Hogwarts TNG: The Four Corners and the Black Queen
by Marcus Gaudry
Summary: It's a whole new generation at Hogwarts! As four new students enter their first year, they soon learn that a terrible dark witch from the past still lingers in the forbidden forest, waiting to join a secret society that has been developing for decades. A/N: This story ignores most of Cursed Child, call it AU or not cannon if you wish.
1. Chapter 1 Calling the Corners

_Fire_

Dudley Dursley managed to graduate from school, even if his academic grades were far from stellar. However, around the year his cousin Harry Potter had saved his life, he had been developing into quite the athlete; especially when it came to combat sports. After that summer, once he got his head right, he started to take that direction much more seriously. The following summer, the old man with the withered hand said something most interesting; he said, as far as Dudley could work out, was that his mum and his dad had really been treating him even worse than all three of them had been treating Potter. It took the whole year for him to reason out how that made any sense at all; after all, they had been downright horrible to his cousin- or at least Dudley was able to see that plainly now.

The best he'd been able to come up with was, as much as they treated Potter like he was a waste of space, his mum and dad had allowed and even encouraged him, their Duddins, to become a waste of space. The truth was, Potter was not a waste at all; even as awful as he had been to his cousin, Potter saw fit to rescue him from whatever those wraith-like things were. That Potter would rescue even someone who'd dealt him nothing but misery his whole life told Dudley that Potter was just like all the heroes he saw on the television.

So that last summer that Potter was in number 4 Privet Drive, the year those Order People came to take them someplace safe before Harry's seventeenth birthday, Dudley did his best to make a kind of peace with Harry, and then made every effort to struggle through his last year at school. He made it through, albeit barely. He knew he wasn't exactly bright; but he was also aware of what he was good at. Straight after graduation, Dudley set to training in Mixed Martial Arts fighting. He quickly got very good at it, and was soon making loads of money; far more than Dad ever would have dared dream of selling drills. Before he even knew it, Dudley even had an in ring nickname: Dudley 'the Dynamo' Dursley, and he became quite popular. He even met the woman who would soon become his wife there; she was also a decently talented fighter in the women's division. Together they had a daughter which they named Daisy, and though he loved his little girl more than he loved his own life and would have given up everything he had to make sure his Daisy had nothing but the best, his little Daisy also terrified him.

By the time Daisy was two years old, strange things had started to happen; especially when she was distraught. Lights would flicker on and off and on again. One time, as she was trying to navigate a staircase, she started to take a tumble, and even before he or her mother could rush in to catch her, she was literally suspended in mid air, and then landed as gentle as could be done. These odd things kept happening through the years, and it reminded Dudley very much of his cousin. That was when he remembered the owls. He started to watch for them again; hoping he could use one to send a message to Harry to see if he could help. He didn't think Harry would help him, but he might be willing to help Daisy; all Dudley could do is hope that Potter would believe him that all he wanted was what was best for his little girl. What he didn't know was that right around the time Daisy saved herself from taking that nasty fall from the stairs, Headmistress Minerva McGonagall happened to be in a certain tower as the quill of acceptance wrote the name Daisy Dursley into the book of admissions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Headmistress gaped open mouthed at the name; she could hardly believe she was seeing it. She was, of course, well aware of the name Dursely and how it was connected to Harry Potter, but the Dursely's struck her as being the least magical and most terrible kind of Muggles she had ever seeing the name in the book, Minerva felt the need to contact Potter immediately; this was far too unlikely a thing to happen for her not to; besides, however awful that family was to Potter, it was still family.

Though Dudley did not know of this, the result was the same. There came a day, finally, that he answered a knock on the door to find his cousin, still skinny and with his still perpetually untidy hair and that odd scar on his forehead standing before him; his haunting green eyes behind those spectacles of his. For a moment, Dudley wondered if on top of all his other talents, could Potter read minds as well.

"Hello, Big D." Harry said.

"B-but how did you know?" Dudley sputtered. "I was watching for owls, but I saw none, and I thought it would be stupid and dangerous to send anything through normal Post."

Harry smiled kindly. "Well, you were right on that count, I reckon." He replied. "The truth of the matter is I'm very good friends with both the Minister for Magic and the Headmistress of Hogwarts. It was her who told me about your daughter – Daisy is her name?"

Shocked, Dudley only nodded silently and stood still for a moment before he came to his senses enough to step aside and let Harry in; this was not likely a conversation to be had outdoors, after all. Harry thanked him as Dudley led him to the sitting room where Harry sat himself in an armchair. Dudley wondered how this Headmistress could know about his daughter, but decided it might be best if he didn't ask; odds were on that any explanation Harry could give would be well beyond his capacity anyway. Instead he offered Harry a tea. Harry made a lighthearted joke about not leaving it on the floor, and Dudley went into his kitchen to get it all sorted.

"So as I was saying," Harry continued almost as if the conversation never broke. "Once Headmistress McGonagall told me, I checked with the Ministry, and sure enough Magic use was detected at your address. I came as soon as I could. Sorry for the delay, by the way, I have two sons and a daughter of my own, as you know."

Something in Dudley's head clicked in place. "Hang on," he said. "If your school already knows, does that mean she's bound to be accepted for enrollment?"

"Why do you ask?" Harry asked, his tone a little cross and somewhat wary. "Does she frighten you? Are hoping to get shut of her?"

Dudley recoiled, knowing he probably deserved that after the way his family treated him all those years. Besides, he was half right, anyway. Still, almost at once Harry's expression changed to one of remorse. "Sorry," he said truthfully. "I shouldn't have said it like that."

"S'Alright." Dudley said. "I reckon I'd earned it. Besides, you're half right. She does frighten me a little... well a lot honestly. Now before you get all indignant try to see it from my side, will you. It's eerie when your little girl starts floating her toys around the room and shuts lights on and off in the next room if her bottle is late or what have you. It's not only that, but what if the neighbors see something? No, not like Mum and Dad, so don't even think that. I mean they might go after her and try to hurt her. That's the part that terrifies me most of all. She's still my Daisy, even if she's got some...talent...that I can't possibly understand isn't she? I only want what's best for her. She needs to learn to use and control whatever it is she has, and I reckon your school is the place to sort all that out. I mean, you turned out alright, so..."

"I get your meaning, D." Harry said, waving off the rest of Dudley's speech. "And yes, you're quite right; Hogwarts can and will teach Daisy when the time comes. In fact, that's why I'm here. To help her understand what's happening. How old is she now?"

"She's four." Dudley replied proudly. "She just turned this past February."

"Then she's about the same age Albus." Harry said happily. "They'll be the same year." He finished his tea and stood up. "May I see her?"

Dudley led Harry to the playroom downstairs, where Daisy was once again floating one of her favourite stuffed animals; Dudley was relieved that she remembered to close all the drapes while she practiced this particular talent. When she saw that her Daddy had a guest she quickly let the stuffed lion drop and gazed at him, worried.

"It's alright, Daisy dear." Dudley reassured. "I want you meet someone." He stepped aside so she could see Harry more clearly. "This is your... Uncle Harry, and he's going to help you understand what it is that makes you so special. He's a lot like you, see?"

Harry stepped into the room and hunkered down beside Daisy. "Hi, Daisy," he said, and then the two of them talked at some length about their shared talent. He was even gracious enough to advise that her daddy was right to keep it secret from non-magical people (Muggles, he called them). After some talk, Harry set to leave, promising to keep in touch, and advising Dudley that her letter would come by Owl Post sometime around her eleventh birthday. Sure enough, they did stay in touch; it was mostly for birthday parties and Christmas and the like, but it was always civil. The kids all seemed to get along well enough, and their wives, too. Daisy was particularly taken in by Harry wife – Ginny her name was- and her accounts of this sport she played called Quiddage (at least that's what it sounded like to Dudley). Also as certain as could be, on February 15th, the day after Daisy turned eleven, an Owl dropped off her letter. By then, Harry and Ginny had helped the Dursleys set up an exchange account at a bank called Gringotts, and during the time between getting the letter and September 1st they were most helpful in getting the supplies Daisy would need, and getting her on the train to go to school. For his part, Dudley and his wife felt a bitter relief as their Daisy headed out; seeing her go, knowing she would be gone at least until Christmas stung bitterly, but there was relief in knowing she would be in the safest place possible for her to be.

 _Air_

Most books say that our memories really start to take form and begin to be truly retained at age five. I suppose that's probably true for most people- or normal people, anyway, but not for me. My first clear memory was when I was three. It was the day that a policeman came to our door and told my mom and me that my dad was killed. It was most bizarre, they said, because the cause of death could not be determined. They simply found his body in a back alley behind Cambie Street near Pigeon Park. I also remember there being a big fuss about getting any sort of compensation because of that mystery; and that the whole mess left Mom and me in quite the tight corner. Mom got a job at a paper mill, though, and she did her best. Things were hard, but we did okay. One thing was sure; Mom did all she could to make sure I was happy and healthy. That was the year we moved into Eagle Gardens in Barnaby on King's Way where we live now. It was there that I met Hoots. Hoots is, I guess, what you might call an imaginary friend. I don't have many real friends; mom says it's because I spend too much time with my nose in some book or another. In any case, Hoots always has a way of showing up when I' scared or lonely sad. Usually I just start thinking about the happiest thing I can remember, and He shows up. He's a silvery owl.

Now I'm going to jump ahead a little bit. I started grade school the September before my fifth birthday, which is on Halloween. That caused quite a stir; I remember the school board doing all kinds of tests before letting me start, but they let me in, quite certain I'd be able to keep up. All of my fellow students were already five, you see; as I was about to turn five, they were all about to turn six. That was the way it was all through my school years; I was roughly a year younger than everybody, but somehow I was always near the top of my class. Needless to say I was not terribly popular; not unless someone wanted to copy off me. But at least I had Hoots. The thought that worked best to bring him around was of my Dad; I can still picture him in that woolly jacket of his, and the matching scarf and ski cap; they were blue and a kind of bronze colour, each with what I remember him calling a family crest- it was an eagle.

That brings us to this summer; I was on my way to turning eleven. Actually, I still am, as the summer isn't over yet; it's only the 28th of August. I have everything all packed up, and I know how to get the King's Cross train Station and I think I've worked out how to get onto the Platform for the Hogwarts Express. It's important that I make sure of these kinds of things; I have a terrible sense of direction, you see.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I should back up a little bit to earlier this summer. It was in July that it all started. I had just come in from collecting some sticks and twigs, and next I was planning on doing some research on the Solar System. I know, it's summertime and kids my age are supposed to be on vacation from that sort of thing, but it's what I like to do. As is so often the case, I couldn't find a pencil for notes; that's what the twigs and sticks were for. I opened my books up, and 'switched' one of the twigs into a pencil. I noticed I could do that when I was six. It wasn't so different than calling on Hoots. It was a trick that came in very handy, so long as nobody saw me do it. There are other things I can do, and I'll get to those in just a minute.

So I was doing my research, taking notes on the moons of Jupiter, when there was knock on the door, followed by my mom calling me to the front room. I came out, and sitting on the sofa was a tiny man whose clothes didn't seem quite right. He looked like a miniature symphony conductor. When I say this guy was tiny, I mean he was tiny. I'm not a big kid; in fact I might be the smallest (as well as youngest) in my class, but this guy was so tiny that his feet didn't even reach the floor as he sat on the sofa. In fact, if he wasn't sitting on the very edge of the seat, I'm not sure his legs would stretch out more than an inch over the edge. He was also very old, but he had eyes that twinkled like a little kids and a smile that was contagious; I couldn't help but smile back.

"Ah, you must be Richard Gavin!" the little man said with a squeaky voice. "Please, sit down."

I sat across from him. Mom brought us each a glass of water, and he squeaked out his thanks.

"Excuse me, sir," I said. "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but who are you and why are you here?"

The little man chuckled. "Of course you'd want to know." He said. "I suppose that's more than fair, you've been in the dark far too long. I apologize for that, but the distance I had to travel alone made getting to you a challenge in itself, you see." That was when I noticed his accent; I couldn't quite place it for the squeak in his voice, but if I had to guess I would say British or Scottish. "Now in order to explain, I have to ask you a question, first. Tell me, Richard, have things happened around you that you can't explain, or maybe you can do things that other kids can't?"

He looked at me knowingly. It was clear that he already knew the answer; though I guess the look of shock on my face told him all he needed to know.

"Richie, be careful, son."Mom warned.

I knew what Mom meant; she was always worried that if other people saw what I could do they would get scared and maybe call the police or worse. I should say this now; mom is a good person; she just doesn't like or trust the police or the government. I don't know why, exactly, but then I never asked.

Since it was obvious to me that this man already knew, it was probably best if I just showed him. So for starters I held my hand out and open, and made the glass of water on the table float up into my hand so I could take a sip. Even though mom had seen it before, mom gasped. I think she thought the man was some kind of scientist or doctor, and was having visions of me being tested in a lab. The man, however, was delighted by what he saw. He clapped and cheered.

"That's wonderful!" he exclaimed. "You already have such wonderful control; much better than any of us could have expected! Is there anything else?"

I couldn't help but smile. This man was happy to see me do what I could do. I thought about showing him Hoots, but somehow I suspected that if I did that he might just explode with delight. Instead, I showed him the pencil I made which was stuffed into my back pocket. Then I changed it; first back into a stick, and then to a pencil again. Clapping, the man laughed.

"Absolutely brilliant" He shouted. "I bet that comes in very handy during your school term."

"Yeah, it does, so long as nobody sees me do it." I admitted. Then I asked, "Forgive me, sir, but who are you again?"

The man clapped his hand on his forehead. "Oh, of course, how silly of me; even a little rude I dare say. Her I barge into your home and I don't even introduce myself." He leaped off the sofa and worked his way over to me where I sat in my armchair with his tiny hand extended. "I am Professor Filius Flitwick; Deputy Headmaster and Charms Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He squeaked.

Slightly dumbfounded, I took his hand and shook it. "What's Hogwarts?" I asked. "I don't understand."

"You, Richard Gavin, are a wizard." Professor Flitwick explained. "And evidently a very good one, too, I'd venture; at least as good as your father. Yes, Richard, your father, David Gavin, was a wizard much as you are. Why, I imagine he would have told you if... well, I suppose you know what happened to him." When I nodded, fighting back tears, he allowed me time to process before continuing. "Well, anyway, before coming on to Canada for a special assignment, your father graduated from our school, and then took some extra training to become what is known to us as an Auror; I suppose you could think of that as being a sort soldier or specialized law officer. Now, normally a potential student like yourself who has an established parent or guardian within our community simply gets a letter, but your case is special since evidently he never quite got the chance to fill you in."

"Wait," I said. "So Hogwarts is a school for...for people like me and now you're here to see if I want go." I already knew that I did want to go. I rather liked this Flitwick.

"Yes, that's right." Flitwick confirmed.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Flitwick," Mom interjected. "All of this sounds wonderful, but where is this school?"

"Well, it's in Scotland, actually. But not worry about the commute. There's plenty of room for everybody in the dormitories, and the food there is nothing short of amazing."

Mom looked worried. I knew why. "It's a boarding school? That must be very expensive. And then there's whatever school supplies he would need."

"Oh, of course!" Flitwick exclaimed. "Please forgive me, the journey here has me all turned around in my head." He produced from his pockets an envelope, and a small package, which he handed to me. I opened the envelope first; inside was a letter telling me that I have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and a time and a place to catch the train to get there. This was in King's Cross Station at London, Platform 9&3/4, 11am. There was also a list of supplies that I would need for my first year. Then, in the package, there was key, it said it was to vault number 42 at a placed called Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley. That's a funny name for a street, I thought. "I'm sure you'll find your father left you well funded for school." Flitwick said.

Mom still had some objections: That I would be so far away, when would see each other, would I be safe, all that sort of thing. To her credit, she wasn't saying no, she was just being a mother. Nor was she questioning the idea of me being taught magic; in fact I suspect she was glad to hear that I might get proper training for all the strange things I can do. Then Flitwick explained the school ran from September to June, and I could be home during the summer, Christmas, and Easter holidays. He also said that the school encouraged the students to stay in touch with their parents with letters. That seemed to put mom at ease, and she agreed that it would be alright; she could simply tell anyone that asked that I was away to a school for gifted students. That wouldn't even be lie, if you think about it.

"Wonderful" Flitwick squeaked happily. He then gave me an airline ticket to London, where I was to meet a man called Ruebeus Hagrid, or Hagrid for short, and that he would get me where I needed to go in order to purchase my equipment. "And I will see you on September the first." He said to me, and then he left.

 _Water_

On January 2, the day after Rachael's eleventh birthday, Rachael's invitation to attend Hogwarts arrived to the North house at number 7 in Novak Drive, Coquitlam British Columbia. Upon receipt, Pansy North, formerly Pansy Parkinson, found herself reminiscing.

Her thoughts went back to her fifth year at Hogwarts, which was in her mind the best year. That was the year that she, along with several of her fellow Slytherins were a part of the Inquisitorial squad; it was just a shame that all fell apart because of Potter and his little gang. It was also the year that she and Draco really got close. Sure, he invited her to the Yule Ball the year before, but that only confirmed for her that she and Draco really had something going. It was fifth year that made it all but a certainty; especially that summer.

That was the summer that his Aunt Bellatrix, recently escaped from Azkaban, paid her, Pansy, a visit. It was approaching Midnight; she had just finished a letter she was intending to send to Draco before turning in for the night when she heard the unmistakable _crack_ of someone apparating into the back yard. Mum and dad were fast asleep, so she grabbed her wand and broke for the window, ready to body bind whoever the intruder was.

"You're not of age yet, little girl!" The witch cried out from the middle of yard. Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco's Aunt from his mother's side was standing there, grinning almost maniacally and gazing up the window with her heavy-lidded eyes from under her long black hair. She tittered, "but then who am I to criticize if you break the rules?"

"Madame Lestrange!" Pansy called back with a hoarse whisper. "What brings you here at this late hour?"

"Come down, little flower, and find out." Bella replied. "Oh, don't worry; I don't want to hurt you. I just want to talk about Draco."

Pansy went down the stairs and outside to the backyard. Bellatrix mentioned that Draco had been talking about her a great deal of late, and that she had been his thoughts even more so. How the Death-Eater had known that, Pansy had no idea, but she couldn't help but beam at his Aunt. Then Bellatrix asked if she was looking to have a real thing with her nephew, or if this was just a ploy to get into a good family and keep the bloodlines pure. In reality, both answers were true. Pansy thought about giving the Dark Lord's most loyal follower attitude for an answer, but quickly decided that would be stupid. Instead she said that she was after both. Bellatrix laughed; she seemed please with the answer.

"The little flower knows how the game is played! I think I like this one." She said to no one in particular. Then she looked down at Pansy with a scrutinizing gaze. Their eyes locked. "What about that North boy then? You know the one that's been following you around like a lost dog?"

Pansy knew. She meant the fourth year boy from Canada that seemed to fancy her or something. Even then, she could see him closely in drogue in the hallways between classes, and in the Common Room, and in the Great Hall at meals; always jockeying to get as close to her as possible. If he wasn't so useful it would be annoying. Still, Rigel North was quite clever, and if anything a bit ahead of his year in most classes –rivaled only perhaps by that Blood Traitor Weasley girl and very few others besides. He also came in handy if Pansy didn't want to carry her bags. Draco also didn't seem to mind, but then Rigel was a bit of a Malfoy fanboy; and several steps up from Crabbe and Goyle in the brains department. That was when Pansy realized she wasn't alone in her thoughts. Again, Bellatrix laughed.

"My nephew is developing a following, is he? The Foot of the Hunter has a little crush, does he?" Bella left Pansy's thoughts. "All is well with that, then. Enjoy your dog. Now, about Draco; I would encourage you to stay with him with my blessing. He's likely to need all the support he can get. Don't ask why, that doesn't concern you, little girl. If you want to be a part of something that matters, you will do as I say."

Pansy nodded. She was caught somewhere between elation and terror. "I will do whatever needs to be done." She finally managed to say.

"There's a good girl." Bellatrix cooed. "Oh I have one more thing for you." She reached into her robes and produced what looked like some sort of broach. "This is a very important family heirloom of the House of Black. My now deceased cousin Sirius had in mind to toss it away like rubbish, but the House Elf Kreacher nicked it just in time to see it safely where it belongs. I want you to hold on to it, keep it safe. No, you don't get to wear it, stupid girl!" She hissed at Pansy, and then her demeanor changed to a look that was almost pleasant. "You're not family yet, dear. If Draco chooses you, then perhaps..."

Clutching the broach, Pansy promised she would guard it well. And then, as abruptly as she appeared, Bellatrix Lestrange was gone.

Sixth year started off great with Draco, but quickly went bad. He suddenly got all aloof and secretive, and acting like he didn't want her around. That was how she and Rigel started get close. She, Pansy, learned a lot about Rigel that year, not the least of which was how he was certainly handsome enough to be seen spending time with him. What she learned, though, was that he was, in fact, a bastard descendant of the Gaunt family; who were now all but defunct, but were unquestionably purebloods and directly descended from Salazar Slytherin. The way Rigel told it, Marvolo Gaunt's son Morfin had a one night stand with a witch called Charity Desjardins, but completely rejected her when she became pregnant. Charity moved to Winnipeg, Canada to give birth to daughter she named Hope, who married a wizard of Ilevermorny stock called Orion North. Together they had a son, and that was Rigel. She also learned that he had been learning magic since was five from a mentor in British Columbia; he called the mentor, an _houngan_ from Louisiana, Papa Zebub. He, Rigel, then asked her to give him her hand, pal up. She did. He quickly cut her hand with a small silver knife and let her blood drip into a clay cylinder filled about halfway with a white powder. As she grunted in pain and cursed at him, he put a lid on the cylinder and shook it violently. That was when she noticed the tattoo on the back of his left hand; a blue pentagram, drawn so that the single point was directed at his wrist. He opened the cylinder and smiled.

"This is warding powder." He explained, handing her the cylinder. "It's one of the first things Papa taught me. Sprinkle this so it forms a line at the threshold of your dormitory, and none that wish you harm can pass. Not even the house elves can remove it once it is in place. My year's dormitory has the same; all the Slytherin in my year thus protected when they sleep."

She also took note that all the Slytherins in his year seemed to be following his lead. That was how she started to think maybe Rigel North wasn't just an annoying but useful tag along after all. She asked him what other things this Papa Zebub had taught him, but Rigel wouldn't say; not until after the Dark Lord's fall the following year. After her failed attempt to cash in on the Dark Lord's offer, she was forced to lead the Slytherin house out of Hogwarts. On their way out, Rigel said something to his gang in Parstlemouth, and then managed to sneak back in. She asked one of his friends what he was doing, and he replied that he wanted to see how this all turned out; the end result might have implications in _their_ war, as if he meant other than the one taking place there. Meanwhile, the rest of them were supposed to get out of the country to a place they could take refuge and prepare for the next level.

At the time, Pansy had no idea what they were talking about. She did now. Now, as surprising as it was that her eldest daughter Rachael had received an owl care of the Canada Ministry for Magic to attend Hogwarts, there it was. The envelope must have come to the CMM stationed in Victoria via Floo post- an innovation developed by Terry Boot – and sent by owl from there. Up until then, she had assumed that Rachael would have to go to Ilevermorny. It was that or she could continue to learn from Papa Zebub, who had indeed taught Rigel several amazing and frightening things; some of which Pansy knew now as well. Transmutation was especially handy; being basically immune to most potions and poisons certainly had its benefits.

Rachael was thrilled with the news. She wanted to jump on an aeroplane to London straight away and start getting ready. Rigel, however, thought it more efficient to arrange travel for all of that so it corresponded with his own journey to London for work. He was a reporter/international correspondent for the Daily Prophet; a very useful position for him to set things up for Papa Zebub's plans while at the same time covering their movements by directing everyone's attention elsewhere. For some reason, Pansy thought back to Bellatrix's broach; she thought to include it with Rachael's things, but then thought better of it. Though Bella was very much gone, Pansy still felt obligated to keep it safe.

 _Earth_

Ernie Macmillan had barely stepped into his home after a particularly trying day at his shift in St Mungo's to find the house in a state of absolute pandemonium. Confetti and streamers were strewn all about the front hall, a Butterbeer bottle was rolling down the stairs, and there was a ruckus upstairs that rivaled that of the celebration after the fall of Lord Voldemort (even thinking the name still gave Ernie the creeps) at Hogwarts so long ago. Punky, the family House Elf, who had the distinctive bat-like ears, eyes the size of tennis balls, and a banana shaped nose came rushing down the stairs wearing his favorite T-shirt which bore on it the logo of the wizard rock band the Weird Sisters. His snow-white hair, usually spiked up in a Mohawk, was disheveled. The T-shirt meant, of course, that Punky was actually free to come and go as he pleased, but he always seemed happy enough to stay, and normally his work was nothing short of excellent.

"Punky is grievously sorry about the mess, sir." He said frantically, helping Ernie out of his shoes and into his slippers. "Punky has been trying to keep up all day, sir, but once Master Adam's Hogwarts letter came in, Mistress Romilda, Master Adam, and young Mistress Erin have been celebrating."

"What the- did I hear you right?" Ernie asked, clearly elated at the news. It was April the twenty-first; Adam's eleventh birthday was just the day before. If Punky's news was right that would certainly explain the colour scheme of the streamers and confetti; all yellow and black, the colours of Hufflepuff House and Scarlet and Gold, the colours of his Gryffindor, which was the House Romilda Vane was from.

"Yes, sir, his letter came in by Owl this morning an hour after Master left for work." Punky replied.

Ernie hurtled up the stairs, shouting to Punky to never mind the mess until tomorrow. His eyes were welling up with tears; a mix of pride in his son and a tinge of hurt that Romilda did not notify him right away. Of course, the answer was obvious. Lately St. Mungo's had been extremely busy, what with the number of Muggle attacks from that Harker Institute that had been taking place. It seemed they had developed some kind of technology that could detect and even counter a number of different kinds of magic. At the very least, they seemed also to be operating under a code of secrecy; likely to prevent a mass panic, which they apparently understood would endanger the very people they thought they were trying to protect. The Muggle news seemed to be doing a fair job of explaining any incidents that might otherwise be sticky without much help from the Ministry; which was still very much at a loss as to how the Harker Institute of Technology was doing it.

"Dad, I got it!" Adam shouted, nearly bowling Ernie over when he got to the top of the stairs. Adam, his son, had shoulder length curly black hair much like his mother's to match his dark complexion, but his features made him a spitting image of Ernie himself. Erin, their daughter, was just the opposite; she had Ernie's hair and complexion with Romilda's features. After giving him a bear-hug, Adam proudly presented his Hogwarts letter. Meanwhile, Erin, who was eight years old, was dancing in place and waving a toy Weasley wand which would only make multi-coloured bubbles. Ernie took the letter and read:

 _Dear Mr. Macmillan,_  
 _We are pleased to inform you that you are invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Please be advised that term shall begin on 1 September and that we await your reply by owl no later than 31 July._

 _Respectfully yours,_  
 _Filius Flitwick, Deputy Headmaster._

The letter, of course, was on the letterhead of Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Headmistress of his and his wife's old Alma Mater. Tears of pride and joy welled up in his eyes again. Ernie knew all along this day would come, but now, holding the actual letter in his hands, it made the fact seem that much more real all of the sudden. He looked over to Romilda. They had gone to school together, her a year behind him, but because they were of different houses and different years they never really connected until after school, when Romilda started at St. Mungo's as well. They soon found they worked well together and got on quite fabulously. After they married and had Adam, they worked it out so they worked different days to ensure a parent was always at home.

"Well, this is it, then, isn't it?" He said, shaking with excitement. "It's really that time!"

"Yes, it most certainly is! Our son is growing up!" Romilda giggled with glee. "I just know he's going to be brilliant!"

"I wonder which House I'll be; Hufflepuff or Gryffindor." Adam said introspectively.

Ernie stopped dead. It only then occurred to him that Adam clearly felt that they had expectations in regards to his Sorting. He got down on one knee to look his son in the eye, holding him still firmly by the shoulders.

"I need you to listen to me very carefully, son." He said seriously. "Your mother and I would be no less proud of you whichever House you get Sorted into."

"Even if it turns out I'm a Slytherin?" Adam asked. The look of concern on his son's face was enough to break Ernie's heart.

"Even if you get sorted into Slytherin" Ernie said. "Slytherin House has a bit of a bad reputation, some of it earned, but that doesn't make them bad, does it? In fact, one of my favorite professors was a Slytherin." He meant Professor Slughorn, his Potions Master during his final two years; it was through Professor Horace Slughorn's referral that he landed his position at St. Mungo's.

"That's right, Adam" Romilda agreed, though Ernie caught just a hint of wariness in her voice; but then that might be simply because there has always been a certain amount of disdain between the Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"His reply has already been sent," she said to him. "All that's left is to get him ready."

"Well, then," Ernie said back, "with that all in place, let's continue the celebration, shall we?"

And so they did, long into the night. Eventually Erin wore herself out and fell asleep on the sofa, and Romilda carried her off to bed. By the time he, Romilda, and Adam decided it was about time to retire, the house was a shambles. Normally the Macmillan's liked to keep an orderly house, but tonight was a special occasion; order could be restored in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2 Diagon Alley

Chapter 2  
Diagon Alley

1

Uncle Harry had brought Daisy, her Mum and Dad along when with his own children to Diagon Alley in order to shop for the books and supplies they would need for school. In the relatively few times she had opportunity to visit with her cousins, she had gotten some idea of what to expect, but it was still quite a different thing to actually see the place. Daisy couldn't help but notice the look of stunned stupidity on the faces of her parents: it was a look she had seen on both of them in the moments after they had taken a sucker punch in a fight in the ring. In her Dad especially, she noticed the look change ever so slightly into the one he took on when he was trying to work out an especially tricky problem; it was actually kind of a family joke to call it "Daddy's thinking face." If she were to be honest, Daisy could hardly blame them; the fact that such a spectacular place could exist and be basically invisible to the rest of the world was nothing short of mind boggling.

"Hey, daddy" Lily Luna, Uncle Harry's youngest, can we go Uncle George's first?" She was pointing at a shop called Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. The other Potter kids had told her that their Uncles George and Ron ran a joke shop. Daisy gathered this was the place they meant.

"After we get your brother's books, dear," Aunt Ginny said. Daisy quite liked her; Aunt Ginny had a kind of sensibility that Daisy found she could really identify with, and would often talk about her career playing Quidditch with the Holyhead Harpies. For her part, Daisy could hardly wait to see the game for herself.

"You know, Ginny," Harry countered, "you go on and take her. I can handle the books for the boys."

"Can I go too, Dad?" Daisy asked.

Dad finally managed to shake off his thinking face and said yeah, she could, if right after she got her robes fitted. She agreed, and scrambled after Aunt Ginny and Lily Luna headed for the joke shop.

"OI! HARRY!" A gargantuan voice boomed, causing everyone in the vicinity to jump and start as they turned to locate the source of the noise. Daisy turned and quickly found the source was a huge man, at least twice the size of any normal man she ever saw with long scraggly hair and a beard that covered most of his face. He was wearing a moleskin jacket and was accompanied by a small boy who looked, when standing next to this giant of a man, like he couldn't be more than nine years old; ten if he was just small for his age.

"I was hopin' to see yeh, Harry!" the giant that Daisy guessed must be the one the other kids called Hagrid said as he lumbered towards Uncle Harry and her dad, who suddenly has a look of sheer panic on his face Daisy had never seen before. Her dad was also turning so his backside was away from Hagrid, his hands drifting to block his hindquarters. "I wan' yeh to meet someone!" Uncle Harry seemed pleased enough to see Hagrid, so Daisy reasoned that there was likely no danger and continued off to the joke shop.

The Weasley's joke shop was every bit as impressive as she had been led to believe, but really what was capturing her attention was the people in the shop. It seemed full of young people; several her own age, and all seemed to be allowed to try out the seemingly endless gags, goofs, and jokes that filled the aisles. One boy in particular caught her attention; he was with two adults she presumed were his parents as he was clearly a dead mix of them both in appearance, as was the younger girl that was also with them. The boy, who had his mother's hair and skin and his father's overall features, already had a cauldron filled with books, and his father was carrying a barn owl in a cage (apparently pets were even allowed in the shop, which struck Daisy as unlikely.) Eventually, Aunt Ginny's brother Ronald managed to convince her to purchase a bottle of capsules which they called U-GO-POO.

"Just drop one capsule into your target's drink," he explained, "and he or she will be living on the loo for twelve straight hours. It's fast dissolving, colourless, odorless, and has no flavour at all; completely undetectable, except for the result. Perfect if you need to get by Filch to do a little night time exploring."

When Daisy asked who Filch was, Ron just grinned and told that she would see soon enough.

After the joke shop, Daisy made way for Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions. By then, it seemed Hagrid had gone off to an ice cream parlour. The boy that was with him wasn't around; Daisy guessed he might be in Flourish and Blott's, the bookstore. She went into Madam Malkin's and was quickly greeted by Madam Malkin, who took a wild guess that Daisy was there to get fitted for Hogwarts Robes. Once Daisy said that indeed she was, Malkin led to a fitting stable, where she was set to stand next to another girl. The other girl was slight, pale, and had long black hair that was cut straight bangs that almost hid her hazel eyes. At first her features looked a little pinched and sour, until she smiled.

"Hi," she greeted. Her voice was odd; it seemed...heavy somehow; certainly foreign but Daisy couldn't place it. "You here for Hogwarts?"

"Yeah," Daisy replied. "It's my first year; yours too?"

"That's right." She answered. "I'm Rachael; Rachael North."

"Pleased to meet you; I'm Daisy Dursley. Actually, I'm a little nervous about all this Hogwarts stuff. I had no idea if I was even going to get in on the first place." Daisy said.

Given that Madam Malkin was busily taking their measurements, the two girls couldn't shake hands or anything.

"I know, right?" Rachael replied agreeably. "My Mom says I got lucky on account that she and dad went, so I have family history there even if we live on the other side of the planet."

"Wow," daisy said conversationally. "Where are you from, exactly?"

"Well, my mom was born in England, and my dad in Canada, so when they got married they both moved into Canada; though dad travels a lot for work. He's a reporter for the Daily Prophet, y'know?"Rachael explained. Daisy nodded knowingly; she was aware of the newspaper she was talking about. It seemed very odd that a Canadian would be coming this far for school, but thought better of saying anything; so far this was the first person outside of the Potters and the Weasleys that she met in Wizarding world, and she didn't want to mess up a potential friendship.

"So what house are you looking to get sorted into?" Rachael asked after an awkward silence.

This was a question that Daisy felt alright responding too. "Oh, well, I'm hoping for Gryffindor- that's where most of my family is from- but I guess Hufflepuff would be alright, too."

Rachael's face fell a little. "Gryffindor; that's the one house I hope I don't get sorted into." She said, and then added quickly, "make no mistake, I've got nothing against Gryffindor personally, it's just that Mom and Dad would probably disown me if that happened. They're both Slytherin, you know? I guess it's that whole stupid House rivalry thing. I'd just rather not have to deal with it, y'know?"

"You've got a bit of muscle on you, girl." Malkin commented to Daisy. "I reckon you an excising type. Are you planning on trying out for Quidditch?"

"Well, maybe, yeah." Daisy answered.

"Then I suppose I may well be seeing the both of you again next year." Malkin said. "Hang on, both of you; your robes are almost fitted and ready to go."

As Madam Malkin finished up their robes, Daisy and Rachael talked a little bit of Quidditch. Rachael clearly knew more about it than Daisy, but it was still a good talk. Rachael was looking on trying for Seeker next year; Daisy wasn't quite sure what she wanted to try for, although she was thinking about going for a Beater position. Apparently girls as Beaters were quite rare- unless you were talking about the Harpies, which were an all girl team- but Daisy was rather well built for girl, and she already knew her aim was bang on. Once their robes were fitted, they parted ways; Daisy to get back to the bookstore, and Rachael to go look at pets. Their lists said they were allowed one pet each: a cat, owl, rat or toad. When Daisy came to think on it, maybe she would like a nice, fluffy black cat. It seemed like a witch thing to have.

2

Lucky for me, finding Hagrid once I got off the plane in London was an insanely easy task; in the main concourse, there was a man that had to be at least ten feet tall and had more beard than he did a face. Standing head and shoulders above a sea of people, he was also holding up a sign which eclipsed one of the windows behind him that read a scrawl: "GAVIN". Now I like to think myself fairly bright, but even a complete dimbulb could have worked out that the guy who was easily as big as Flitwick was small had to be the Hagrid that I was supposed to meet up with.

As I made my way towards him, I got the idea that he spotted me and was able to discern who I was. His eyes followed my path towards him, and he put down his mammoth sign. In fact, it was almost as though he recognized me, though I had no idea how that could be. At the time, I thought maybe he knew my dad.

"Well, there 'e is, in't 'e?" Hagrid said, looking down at me kindly with his beetle black eyes. "Alright, Richard?"

"I'm fine," I replied. "I take it you're Hagrid."

"Tha's righ'." He answered. "Here to get you to Diagon Alley and make sure yer all set for school. Here, let me take care o' tha' fer yeh." Hagrid then stooped down and grabbed the handle of my trunk, which I was actually struggling with a little. He hefted it up effortlessly and turned around towards the exit, everyone around us giving us both a wide berth. I imagined that because of his size alone, lots of people tend to be intimidated by this Goliath, but I got the sense that, other than perhaps underestimating his own strength, he was gentle and basically harmless unless provoked.

Telling me that our ride was waiting, He led the way out of the airport and into the parking lot. I also discovered he was a chatty kind of guy. He mentioned that seeing me was like seeing my dad all over again, and that it was hard to believe that somewhere near twenty years have passed by already since the fall of 'you-know- who'. He also explained that he was both gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures Professor. Finally we got to a motorcycle with a sidecar, equipped with a small trailer hitch on the back; the hitch looked homemade and crude, like it was something Hagrid made himself. It looked to me like it was about ready to fall apart, but I took my mom's advice here to not say anything at all if I couldn't say something nice. He fastened my trunk onto the trailer and indicated the sidecar and said to hop on in as he mounted.

"Hagrid," I said, "Who's 'you know who'?"

"Wha' do yeh mean?" He asked back, as he kick-started the bike and it roared into life. "Surely you know abou' tha'. The war an' the Death-Eaters an' all? I know yer dad was underage an' Professor McGonagall had 'im shipped safely away that night, but surely he..."

"My dad died when I was three." I said, only realizing that I interrupted him after the fact. "He didn't have much of a chance to tell me anything. I'm coming into all of this pretty much blind; except for what Flitwick told me."

"Oh, righ'. I remember Flitwick mentionin' that now." Hagrid replied remorsefully. "Well, the first thing yeh need to understand is that not all wizards are good, Richard. Some turn out bad. There was this one bloke named Tom Riddle that was about as bad as yeh could ever find. He called his'self Lord...Lord Voldemort..." He shivered; clearly saying the name still had a profound effect on him. "Anyway, this bloke Riddle, he went about collectin' a bunch other witches and wizards and turned 'em over to the dark side, see? And then 'e tried to take over the world. Nearly succeeded, too, by my reckoning; if not for Albus Dumbledore, the Order, and especially Harry Potter and his friends. Now, yer dad was at Hogwarts back then. In his fifth year if I remember right; he was a bright lad, yer dad, but still a minor, so he was squirreled away when Riddle an' his army attacked Hogwarts to try an' kill Potter."

I had a load more questions I wanted to ask, but I got a clear sense that this line of conversation was difficult for him; since he was driving, I figured it was best to leave well enough alone. It wasn't long before we came to a screeching halt in front of a place called the Leaky Cauldron. I had looked on maps of London at the Public Library back home, but I didn't remember seeing any such place. I guessed maybe it had to do with magic; but then again I really knew so little about this new world I was just told I was part of that such an easy answer seemed like kind of a catch-all. If I was going to understand anything about any of this, I had a lot of research to do.

Hefting my trunk up with one hand, Hagrid bid me follow him into the Leaky Cauldron. The place was a combination inn and tavern, as far as I could tell. Though it was quite tidy and clean, it somehow had a rustic, slightly musty feel to it; it was obviously very old. When we came in, it wasn't very busy, but the people that were inside all seemed to know Hagrid; but then again I suppose he was rather unmistakable, given his size. Trunk slung over one shoulder like a ghetto blaster, he led me straight to the bar, where an aged bald man with virtually no teeth was talking animatedly with a patron, a man who looked to be barely an adult. He was thin; almost emaciated and his clothes were very shabby yet somehow he made it look chic. The faded jeans, run-down oxblood coloured leather jacket that would go down to his knees if he were to stand and matching oxblood sneakers (those looked brand new, I'll admit) were nicely set off with a black pork pie hat that had a thin blue and bronze band which was fastened in place with a small clasp shaped like an eagle.

"Mornin' Tom," Hagrid said to the bartender, "mornin' Rene." He added to the patron.

"Good morning, Hagrid," Tom the bartender said. "I take you're not here for a drink, then?"

"Nope," Hagrid confirmed. "I'm just passing through to see Richard here gets ready for his firs' term at Hogwarts. Flitwick helped arrange a room for 'im here, if I remember righ'."

Tom the bartender looked at me and grinned. I don't think he meant it, but somehow that grin made me think he was wondering how I would taste. "Indeed he has, indeed he has. I'll just go and see if it's ready." That was when I noticed his hunched back and he scrabbled up a set of stairs. Then the patron Rene turned on his stool to face me.

"So you're just about to start at Hogwarts, are you?" He asked, his voice had an odd croak to it; a bit like a parrot. "I just graduated this past summer, myself."

"Uhhh, that's great!" I replied, not sure what else I should say.

"Hang on," he said, "how old are you, may I ask?"

"Um, I'm ten." I said. "But I turn eleven on Halloween." I added hopefully.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. "You're Richard Gavin, then! Professor Flitwick mentioned you; said you were exceptionally bright and talented."

"Well, he has that look to 'im, don' he?" Hagrid said.

Rene chuckled; though it was more like a cackle. "Indeed he does." He said. He then shot out his hand, offering to shake. I took it. "I'm Rene Defaustis." We shook, and as he let go of my hand his head jerked slightly to an angle so he could peek up the stairs. "I believe your room is ready, Mr. Gavin, and I'm sure I'll see you soon."

"Right. Great." I said.

Tom the bartender led us to a small but comfortable looking room with a window overlooking the street we came in from. He, Tom, said he hoped the room would be suitable for my stay until school started. I said that it should be fine, and then Hagrid, placing the trunk at the foot of the bed with a slight grunt, said we ought to get going; we had plenty yet to do.

On the way down the stairs, I asked Hagrid what Mr. Defaustis meant when he said he'll see me soon. Hagrid explained that Hogwarts changed a couple of things starting this year; one of those changes was taking on a counselor- a kind of teacher's aide to help with students and such. Defaustis was that counselor, he told me as he then led me out back to a wall. He then produced from his coat a small pink umbrella which he tapped on the wall, which opened up into a great archway, and on the other side of that archway was a whole new street that I had no idea could exist!

"Well, come on!" Hagrid urged gently, shoving me through, probably a little harder than he intended.

It took a moment for me to take it all in. I asked what this place was, and Hagrid said it was Diagon Alley, and that we'd find everything we needed right here. Then he asked if my remembered my key. I fished it out of my pocket to show him that I did. Then he led me to a place called Gringott's Bank. I'd been in banks before, and this one wasn't so different than the one my mom used; only much larger, and all the tellers behind the desks were about the same size as Flitwick, but much uglier and with pointed ears. When I asked what they were, Hagrid explained they were goblins, which seemed born and bred for this kind of work. Hagrid took me to a desk at the very far end of the massive hallway to a desk that would have been high to anyone except Hagrid, and even for him it was up to the middle of his great chest.

"Richard Gavin would like to get into his vault, please." Hagrid said, clearing his throat. The goblin at the desk only glanced at Hagrid for a moment before resuming examining the papers he was sorting through.

"And does Mr. Gavin have proof of identity?" the goblin asked seemingly indifferently.

Hagrid looked down at me and urged me to present my key. I did. The goblin looked down at me with his beady eyes, scrutinized my face and the key, which I just noticed had the number 42 engraved on it.

"The Gavin family vault." He said. "One of the older ones and you certainly have the Gavin features." He did not seem terribly impressed. He turned and waved another, younger looking goblin over. They gibbered at each other for a moment, and then the younger of the two took Hagrid and I into another room where we got into a trolley on a track. The trolley zoomed at breakneck speed for what seemed like an eternity; deeper and deeper into what I thought of as some kind of mine shaft until it came to screeching halt in front of a vault door marked 42.

The goblin asked for my key, which he used to open the vault. Inside, I saw more gold, silver, and what looked like copper than I would have thought existed in all the world; then again, mom and I only barely scrape by, so what do I know?

"Yer dad left you well off fer when it was time to go on, didn'he?" Hagrid commented. I looked up at him, and saw no greed or envy in his eyes; they just looked like he was leased to see that I would be okay for costs. Without me having to ask, he nodded as if to say it was all mine. I ventured in and selected a bag that was full near to bursting with gold coins, guessing that should be enough to afford everything, I left, and back up to the surface we went. On the journey back up, Hagrid explained the basics of Wizard economy: Galleons, Shekels, and Knuts.

Once back onto the street, the first thing Hagrid suggested I get from the list was a cauldron; this way I'd have something to tote my books in. I noticed an adjacent street next to that shop called Knockturn Alley. Down the way, I spied three shapes like people rounding a turn and coming towards us; it looked like two adults and one kid.

"Yeh best steer clear of that place, Richard" Hagrid advised. "Go skulking aroun' down there, and people might think yer up to no good." He rushed me into the Cauldron shop and helped me pick out a good cauldron. As we turned to leave, I spotted a woman with a pug-like face, a man with hair such a deep shade of red it had to be dyed, and a slight, pale girl conversing. The woman handed the girl a small bag of galleons and sent her away. The girl took a moment to hug first the woman, and then man, whom I noticed had a tattoo of a blue pentagram on the back of left hand. Then the man and the girl went in two different directions, and the woman came into the shop we were in just as we were leaving. I saw the man was heading for a bookstore called Flourish and Blot's, and the girl, with wand in hand, was just entering a tailor shop called Madam Malkin's. Hagrid recommended we get my books next. We crossed the street towards the bookstore, and a woman with beautiful red hair, a younger version of the woman, and another athletic looking girl with blond hair tied up in a tight braid passed us.

"Blimey!" Hagrid exclaimed. "It's 'im! I was hopin' to innerduce yeh... OI! HARRY!" He shouted, stopping everyone on the street dead in their tracks. Even the woman and two girls stopped to see what the commotion was. As soon as everyone seemed to register there was no immediate danger, the bustle resumed. With me in tow, Hagrid lumbered over to group of boys that seemed to be on their way to the bookstore, escorted by two men and a woman who looked quite a bit like the blond girl, except with slightly darker hair. The two boys, one a little older and one somewhere around my age, looked a lot like the smaller of the two men, who had untidy black hair with just a hint of gray in it, wore glasses over green eyes that for some reason really stood out; he also had a peculiar scar on his forehead, shaped like a lightning bolt. The other, larger man had short hair as blond as the girls, and despite his muscular frame, looked absolutely panic stricken when he saw Hagrid; he kept facing him as he backed away as much as he could, his hands racing to his backside. "I was hopin' to see yeh, Harry! I wan' yeh to meet someone." The man with the glasses seemed happy enough to see Hagrid, as did the older of the two boys.

"Harry, this is Richard Gavin, abou' to go into is firs' year." Hagrid said to the man with glasses proudly. "Richard, this righ' here is Harry Potter." I noticed he said the name with a kind of reverence; as if I should I know who he is. Up close, it was very clear the two boys were Harry's sons. The younger one even had the exact same green eyes and messy hair.

"Hi," I said awkwardly. I felt as if I the name should mean something, but I had no idea what. Then Mr. Potter smiled, and I got the sense he was relieved that I had no idea who he was; like a celebrity who has grown weary of his fame. I looked aside at the larger man, and realized who _he_ was

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Richard." Mr. Potter said kindly, shaking my hand. I knew your dad. He was a good man, and I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks," I said vaguely. I turned to the bigger man. "Excuse me, sir, but are you the dynamo?"

"Yes I am." Dudley Dursley said, folding his over his chest and looking over at Mr. Potter with a slightly smug expression, as if he got one over on him. He nodded curtly, and Mr. Potter responded with a raised eyebrow and an indifferent shrug.

"These are my sons," Mr. Potter said, pointing first to the older of the two and then the younger, naming them James and Albus respectively. "Albus will be joining you in first year."

Albus and I said hi to each other, and Hagrid seemed to feel he'd accomplished what he hoped, and said he'd be over there at an ice cream parlor, trusting the Potters and the Dursley's to help me with my books.

As I was getting the last of my books, the woman I saw with the slight girl came in and met the man with tattoo, who had just finished paying for his daughter's books, which he placed in the cauldron. By the time I was finished paying, the blond athletic girl was waiting outside with Dudley and her mother, whose name I just remembered was Belladonna. It only occurred to me then that they had already had a cauldron. Harry was close behind me, and he placed some of the books he purchased into her cauldron, just as the red haired woman and her miniature counterpart came to join them; the woman sporting a cauldron as well, and the little girl running up to them, some sort of toy raised in the air. I headed for the ice cream parlour to meet with Hagrid. I passed by a pet shop on the way, and saw that slight girl again, looking at a display of toads.

"Yeh got yer books, ye got yer cauldron, now I reckon it's abou' time we got you yer wand, then." Hagrid announced, finishing up a mammoth bowl ice cream- it was more like a whole tub, actually. "And there's on'y one spot fer wands; tha' would be Ollivander's, right over there." He pointed over to small shop called Ollivander's wands. "Best wandmaker there ever was, Ollivander." He said matter of factly. He hesitated a moment. "I think it's best ye go on in on yer own. I don' quite fit in there, ye see." He shrugged, kind of sadly. I nodded okay and made my way there. I was just about to enter when I nearly crashed right into another boy who was trying to get in at the same time. He had darkish skin and shoulder length curly black hair, and his features were such that I can only describe as handsome. He was a little taller than me, but than most boys who aren't either Flitwick or much younger than me are.

"Sorry!" the boy exclaimed, as if the near miss was his fault somehow. He stepped aside to let me pass. "Go on ahead," he said politely.

I held the door open. "Oh, no," I insisted, "after you."

The boy smiled a smile that I was willing to bet made him a lot of friends. "Thanks," he said as he passed by. I followed. Ollivander's was probably the most cramped shop I had ever been in my entire life. It was really little more than a great long hallway with shelves stacked with slender boxes. At first the place seemed deserted, until finally an old man with thinning grey hair and bulging eyes appeared from nowhere in particular. He smiled broadly; though his smile wasn't quite as appealing as the boy's.

"It's been a busy day for me." The old man, whom I gathered must be Ollivander said. "I should know by now the week before school starts is always busy. Anyway, which of you to fine young men shall I help first?"

"One good turn deserves another," the boy said to me. "You go first."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I absolutely insist," he said.

I thanked him and stepped forward. Ollivander took one look at me and smiled again. He said I had the unmistakable look of a Gavin. I told him was Richard Gavin, and he clapped happily.

"I remember your father well, young man; very polite, very bright." He said, as he rummaged about amongst his boxes. "Such a sad loss, going down the way he did. I'm a little surprised that you came all the way you have, to be honest; most remarkable. Now, let's see what we have for you: Hawthorne, I think, ten..." he hesitated, look appraisingly at me, "no, eleven inches, slightly springy, and..." he paused to look at me again, "maybe..." He finally handed me a wand, I took it and stared at it blankly. In my hand, the wand seemed to vibrate a little; like it was waiting for something.

"Try giving it a little wave," the boy suggested.

I gave it a little wave, and it lit up and seemed to almost sing for a second.

Again, Ollivander clapped happily. "I've often wondered who that wand would choose." He said. "The wand chooses the wizard, you see, and that wand is rather special because of how rare its core is."

I looked up at him blankly, not having a clue what he meant.

"Can I ask what his core is?" The boy asked.

Ollivander grinned at him. "What's your name, young sir?"

"I'm Adam Macmillan." He answered.

"I thought so," Ollivander said knowingly. "You look like an exact mix of both your mother and your father. The answer to your question, Adam, the core of that wand is a Corax wingtip."

Adam's eyes went wide and his mouth formed an O of shock. "Whoah!" he nearly shouted."That is rare! I heard that a Corax wand only chooses a wizard that the Corax would approve of."

Ollivander beamed. "That's right. Perhaps I'll have an apprentice yet. You certainly know a bit more about wand-lore than most your age would, Adam Macmillan." He said appreciatively. It was Adam's turn to beam at Ollivander. "Well, then, I suppose it's your turn!"

Adam and I switched spots. I still had a ton of questions, but thought it might be better to let Ollivander do his thing. He began rummaging amongst the boxes again, muttering. Finally, he stood up from selecting a box under his counter. "Let's try this one; Hawthorne, Phoenix Tailfeather, eleven inches, a bit stiff. This is an excellent one for prospective healers or apprentice wandmakers."

He handed it to Adam, who took it and gave it a little wave. He got a similar response from the wand as I did mine. Elated, Ollivander said that was two in row on the first go. Then we both paid for our wands and left. Once we were out, I remembered that I had all those questions. By then, though, Hagrid was already waiting and ready to move on. Also, a man, woman, and a little girl were calling for Adam; the woman was holding a cage with an owl in it; I'll be honest and say I don't really know one breed of owl from another.

"Well, it was good to meet you, anyway, Richard." Adam said graciously.

I smiled. "Likewise," I said truthfully. I already knew I quite liked Adam. It really felt like I had made a friend already. "I guess I'll see you next week."

"Definitely," Adam agreed. "You know what? We should meet at King's Cross. We can ride together on the train!"

"No doubt," I said automatically. It was great; I was already looking forward to going to Hogwarts, but now I had a friend there, it was going to be even better.

3

 _From the Diary of Rachael Truth North:_  
 _Aug 24:_

Well, here we are; mom, dad, Polaris and I are finally in the Pit at Knockturn Alley. Actually, it's properly called Solomon's Pit, after the owner/operator, but whatevs. It's about time we got here, too; it took dad forever and a day to make the arrangements for a Portkey from Vancouver to London through his job. It was almost as if he was trying to time it with something else; we've known about my admission to Hogwarts since January!

Anyway, I guess it's not that big a deal; we're here. That's what matters. So we got to dad's work – a branch office for the Daily Prophet in Vancouver – and were soon greeted by Xavier Youngstar. That's dad's editor and a friend of both mom and dad from school. He asked dad if he had anything for him, and dad handed off two metal cylinders, saying his introduction to new series of news stories was on time as always. X took the cylinders, sent one off to print for the Canada Edition right away, and tossed the other one into a Floo Post saying it was for the Daily Prophet, London office. Then he and dad shook hands (left handed, which I always thought was kind of weird, but maybe it's a thing from their school days), and chatted a minute about the story; it was to be about the social oppression and ostracism that Muggle-born wizards are facing in their day-to-day lives. That should be a dead issue by now, but somehow it isn't. Mom is usually really quiet about it, but I know for a fact that she's a big believer in blood purity and how important it is to keep the lines clean. She tries to drill this into me and Polaris every day. That's part of the reason I'm so anxious to get to Hogwarts; to put as much distance between me and my parents ideology as possible. I love them- they are my parents- but I hate their prejudiced attitudes. Because of his job, dad hides it well, but I know he agrees with my mom. Dad said the trip was two-fold; first to get me to school, and second to start his series with an interview with Elijah Greenwood, an advocate for Muggle-born equality. He said he already copious amounts of notes and quotes from a number of Canadian wizards and Ministry members, now it was time to get a London perspective.

With that, Xavier led us to an archive room which was completely empty except for a golfing bag with a complete set of clubs. At the appointed time, we touched the Portkey and after that sickening pulling sensation in the belly, we landed in what looked like a warehouse. Mom and dad landed on their feet like it was nothing to them. Polaris fell on his behind, dizzy and looking like he might get sick. I managed to keep my feet, but just barely. I have to say that Portkey will never be my first choice for travel.

Dad leading the way, with me, then Polaris, then mom bringing up the rear, we left the warehouse and came onto Knockturn Alley. It's a winding road, and we headed towards the intersection that would lead us to Diagon Alley, but just before we got to Borgin and Burkes, dad stopped and looked up at random sign on the wall in front of him that read SOLOMON'S PIT. He knocked once, then twice, and then once more on the wall. Once we heard a faint clicking noise, he bid us all go through the wall to get inside. The place is the dingiest, darkest, creepiest place I've ever seen in my entire life.

Solomon White, the owner/operator of the Pit, was there to greet us. He and dad laughed and embraced. That was when I noticed Solomon had a pentagram tat on his left hand like dads, except his was white where my dad's is blue. Come to think of it, Xavier has one, too; only his was yellow. Solomon and dad talked for a bit; some of it in those weird hissing noises him and his friends sometimes make. I think that's some kind of code. Then Solomon, with a creepy kind of glee, led us upstairs. First he showed a suite for Mom, Dad, and Polaris, and then he showed a single room directly across the hall 'for the little miss' he said to me, grinning and sounding more than a little , my brother, was complaining that he should get his own room, too. Mom smoothed that fight over by telling him he'd just have to wait until it was his turn to go to school; that would be in two years.

So now we're here. We've eaten; the food was passably good. Now it's just one night away before I get the stuff off my Hogwarts list. After that, I guess dad will be in and out for work, but then it's less than a week until I board the train!

I wonder if there's a Vertik Alley somewhere around here, or how about a Horizaunt Alley?

 _Aug 25_

Now I got my stuff. We set out earlier today; mom and dad left Polaris in the care of Solomon; that kind of makes me uncomfortable, but what can I do? We were just about at the exit into Diagon Alley when I glimpsed a skinny boy with short black hair peeking into the alley before a huge man who looked more like a gigantic ball of hair gently ushered him away. Mom muttered the name Hagrid, and that she was surprised that great oaf was still alive. I'll never understand why mom is so angry all the time. Anyway, we stepped out into Diagon Alley, and the first thing my parents wanted to do was get my wand, so they took me to Ollivander's. The cramped wandmaker's shop was filled to the roof with narrow boxes. Ollivander saw us and recognized my mom and dad right away; he addressed my mom by her maiden name (Parkinson) out of habit, not that mom minded that so much. He did apologize, and then he turned his attention to me. He commented that I have my father's eyes (hazel), and then asked me if I understood that the wand chooses the witch. I said that I knew that, but didn't really understand how that worked. He chuckled and told me that I may learn that in time.

Guessing that I tend to take after my dad, he seemed quite sure that a Pine wand would be the best fit. It took three go's at it before the right wand. The one that chose me is a swishy 11 inch Pine wand with a Hippogriff feather core. Mom paid for the wand, and then they led me to a Cauldron shop. Dad peered inside as mom handed me a small bag of galleons, advising me to go to Madam Malkin's for a robe fitting next. Dad said in an offhand way that he thought he saw David Gavin's boy inside with Hagrid. Mom said that was impossible, the boy couldn't be older than ten years old. Dad said he knew that, but he was sure it was him. Mom looked up and saw the skinny boy. Then she actually growled with frustration. I have no idea why; I don't even know who David Gavin is. Mom came back to me, and told me to come straight to the bookstore after robes; and not to go anywhere near the Weasley joke shop; we aren't giving those Blood Traitors or any Mudblood lovers any of our business, she said. I was about to try to argue, but dad interjected, telling me to mind my mother. Then he negotiated mom into letting me look at pets after I was fitted. He gave me a hug and sent me off to robes. Meanwhile, he started towards the bookstore, and mom went into the cauldron shop.

In the fitting stalls, I met a girl named Daisy Dursley; she seems nice, even if she's aiming to join either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Mom would probably disown me if I ended up in Gryffindor; she and dad are both Slytherins. If I ended up in Hufflepuff, I'd probably be okay, though I'd never hear the end of it; and Ravenclaw would probably be alright, too, but I'm sure that Slytherin would be the safest. I don't think it much matters what house someone is in; it probably wouldn't be so terrible being in Slytherin, anyway.

Daisy is a bigger girl; not fat big but athletic big, with blond hair tied tightly back in a braid. That's actually pretty smart; it makes it harder to pull if you get in a brawl. She looked like she could handle herself in a scrap, too; though the determined look in her face seemed to me like she was covering up a little bit of fear. I smiled at her and then we talked a bit about a bunch of things while Madam Malkin did our fittings. She knew a little bit about Quidditch; she's thinking about trying out for Beater. If I do tryout, it'll be as Seeker. I might be wrong, but I think she might be a Muggle-born; I do know she said Harry Potter was her Uncle. That alone is enough to put me on notice to be careful with her when Mom and Dad are around; they seem to have a special kind of hate for Harry Potter.

Done with our fittings, Daisy and I parted ways. She started towards the bookstore, and I went to the pet shop. I was looking at the toads, but mostly I was waiting for mom and dad finish with books. On my way, I noticed the skinny Gavin boy and another boy –he was dark skinned and had shoulder-length, curly black hair- nearly smash into each other in front of Ollivander's. Then they jockeyed briefly over who should go in first; each offering the other the spot. I wonder if they're Canadian. Then mom and dad met up with me, and let me pick out a cute little Lewis Stubfoot Toad; I named him Wilbur.

So, yeah. That pretty much sums up my day at Diagon Alley. I got my stuff, and now I have Wilbur. I hope to see Daisy again; even if mom wouldn't approve. Once I start classes and mom's back in Coquitlam, she never needs to know. Just in case, I have a password protection on this diary so nobody can open it. Dad is a lot harder to keep secrets from; he's a little spooky that way, but I don't think he'll say anything if he finds out.

4

Adam felt pretty good after getting his wand and saying his good-byes to Richard; a small, skinny boy with short, spiky brown hair, and clothes that looked second hand- they were clean, though, so Adam guessed that he was probably on the low income side. That of course didn't matter, what mattered was that he seemed alright. Ollivander said something about Richard's dad; it sounded like he was dead. He also made it sound like Richard was from somewhere far away, though that would explain his accent; his English was very good, though.

As he made his way back to his parents, Adam spied two girls; one blonde and one with black hair that went down to the middle of her back. The blonde had her hair tied up in a tight braid, and looked quite athletic. The other girl was slight in frame and very pale. The athletic blond was headed towards Flourish and Blot's to join a group that had congregated around Harry Potter, and the slight girl was moving towards a Pet Shop. Richard, meanwhile, had joined up with Hagrid. It appeared like the enormous Game Keeper of Hogwarts was looking through some kind of checklist.

Adam's Mum asked if he had gotten his wand, and he said that he did; showing both his parents and advertising its parameters. His dad seemed especially pleased with it.

"And I met a new bloke!" Adam added quickly, pointing towards Richard and Hagrid. "His name is Richard Gavin, and he got a really rare wand!"

"Gavin, you say?" Dad asked. "I think we might know his father, Romilda. If I'm not mistaken he was in his third year when Dumbledore's Army got started; I'm sure he was in Ravenclaw."

"Do you mean David Gavin?' Mum asked. "Whatever happened to him?"

"I believe he trained to be an Auror." Dad replied. "Last I heard he was sent on assignment in Canada, not too long after Finnegan went over there and became Canadian Minister."

Then Mum stiffened as a couple passed by, heading towards the Pet Shop; the woman looked a little bit like an older, angrier version of the slight girl, and the man had impossibly dark red hair, hazel eyes, and was wearing a sharp looking green trench coat with shiny silver clasps. Adam knew who the man was; he was the reporter Rigel North. As they passed, the woman glared at his parents homicidally, and Rigel grinned coyly and gave a slight nod. Puzzled at what could provoke such a hostile greeting, Adam couldn't help but to watch their progression.

"Pay them no mind, dear," Mum said coolly. "I'm sure that was just some old resentment from school resurfacing."

"But who was that woman with Rigel?" Adam asked.

"Her name's Pansy Parkinson; or rather North, I would guess." Mum answered. "Slytherin House; she was in your year, wasn't she, Ernie?"

"Yes, she was," Dad said stiffly. "As I recall, she was a part of Malfoy's old gang."

"A little more than that, I think." Mum replied. "Come to think of it, I seem to recall Mr. North was often lingering nearby that lot, too."

They fell silent after that. Adam didn't need to hear anymore anyway; he knew all about the rivalry between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. It was part of the reason he definitely did not want to be sorted into Slytherin.

Breaking the silence, Dad then announced it was time to get fitted with robes, and they, with Erin in tow, started off towards Madam Malkin's. When he got into a fitting stall, he was pleased to see that his new friend Richard was already there./p

"Hey, Richard, hi!" he called, smiling. "Good to meet you again!"

"Oh, hi Adam," Richard said back. "Good to see you, too. Robes should be the last thing on my list. Hagrid said he'd help me pick out an owl, but I said that I thought it best I make sure I know my around the school first."

Adam nodded; that sounded sensible enough. He also had an idea that maybe Richard was just trying to avoid saying he didn't think he could afford one.

"Well, I got one, anyway," he said, "they're brilliant if you want to send a message home or order something in. But don't worry, I hear they got loads of them in Hogwarts, and you can borrow mine if you need to."

"That's great," Richard said, "thanks. I was thinking about looking into that Joke Shop for a bit after. Hagrid says he knows the owners, and they're supposed to be a couple of geniuses."

"You mean Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes? The place is brilliant! You really ought to take a look; you're missing out if you don't."

"Thanks for the endorsement. I'll be sure to let them know."

At this they both laughed, even if Adam wasn't entirely sure why. As far as he could tell, it was because it Richard's attempt at humour, and even if it wasn't a very good one Adam rather liked Richard.

Madam Malkin made quick work in fitting them, and soon they were off. Mum and Dad were waiting outside, and Dad was talking animatedly with Hagrid. On impulse, Adam dragged Richard over- forgetting that he was with Hagrid anyway- and introduced him to his parents and his younger sister.

Dad went down on one knee to address Richard. "I just want you to know that Romilda and I knew your father." He said. "He was a good man, he was; and a cracking good wizard. Not many people know this, but in the battle at Hogwarts, he doubled back when the underage wizards and witches were being evacuated. I dare say it's a good thing he did, too; he showed up in time to stun a Death Eater that nearly got me from behind. If not for David Gavin, I'd be a goner for sure. When next you see him, tell him thanks for me."

"Well, I would, sir," Richard replied, "but he died when I was three."

Dad's jaw dropped. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed, shocked at the news. "Sorry, I didn't know. Well, he was as brave as any man I ever met, and you should be proud of him."

Richard smiled a little at that. "Thanks; I am."

Then Adam had an inspiration. "Mum, Dad," he suggested, "how about we meet Richard at the station and come in all together?"

"I think that's a great idea." Mum said.

"Then that's settled!" Dad agreed wholeheartedly. "We'll see you at King's Cross; be there at 10:30 sharp, so we can be sure not to be late."

"That sounds awesome." Richard said before rounding onto Hagrid. "Hagrid, do we have time to browse the Weasley's store?"

"I think we can manage tha'" Hagrid rumbled happily. He began to lumber in the direction of the Weasley's. "Well, come on, then, no use dawdlin', is there?" He said once he realized Richard wasn't at his heels. Richard hustled to catch up, waving goodbye as he did.

Mum suggested it was about time to get home. Adam didn't mind that; it had been a very good day. School hadn't even started yet, and he had already made a new friend.


	3. Chapter 3 Hogwarts Express

1

On the Platform to Hogwarts Express, Daisy took another appraising look at her wand. The wand man said it had a Pegasus Feather Core. He also said that a Pegasus core would be fiercely loyal, if a bit tricky to master. She could see for herself that it was 11 inches long and made of Holly. It still struck as kind of unlikely that a singing, vibrating, glowing stick could be so important, but the Potters and Weasleys both said it was, and she had to guess they knew what they were talking about. She then put her wand away and glanced about the platform.

Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were busy with their relatives Ron and Hermione and all their children, as well as contending with their friends and admirers; they were all apparently somewhat famous and very popular, though Uncle Harry seemed a little bit weary of all of that. It was also apparent that Hermione, Ron's wife, was someone of significance in the Wizard Government, though Daisy had no idea how any of that really worked. James had just gone off with some of his friends, Lily-Luna and Hugo were excitedly talking about something, Aunt Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were talking about something with Rose; Ron had clearly said something funny about another family nearby that Daisy didn't recognize, and Uncle Harry was saying something to Albus. Clearly they were all very busy, and Daisy didn't want to impose. They were all always nice enough- though Hermione did come off as a touch bossy at times, but somehow Daisy found she felt like a welcomed outsider when around them. It wasn't their fault, they were just so tightly knit that things just felt that way to her. Instead, she drew closer to her Mum, who had come onto the platform with her. Dad had made up some excuse not to be there; though Daisy suspected the whole magic thing still made him uncomfortable. He was trying to be good about it, though, and Daisy loved all the more that.

Mum, on the other hand, seemed quite hopeful; happy even. On the way there, Daisy asked her why. Mum then explained that her family was also magical- her Maiden name was Brown – and that she was what they called a Squib. That she was able to produce a magical child might actually help make her part of the Brown family again.

"Daisy, before you go I want to talk to you about something." Mum said, pulling her aside as she saw that skinny boy and the handsome one with dark curly hair come through the pillar and onto the platform. They were followed quickly by the handsome boy's parents and little sister.

"Yeah, Mum, okay," Daisy said. "What is it?"

"First, I want you to understand that as wonderful as your gifts might be, there may come a time when they can't help you." Mum said. "If that ever happens, be sure to remember that you have a whole other set of skills and abilities; don't let yourself become too dependent on one thing."

Daisy sighed heavily. "Alright Mum, I know all that!" she said, getting exasperated with this lecture.

"And next, even more important, I cannot underscore enough that it is not the skills and abilities that you have that make you who you are, but what you do with them that really matters." Mum finished. "Do you understand?"

Daisy nodded. Mum was right, of course, but she had heard this about a hundred times since she got her letter in February. "Don't worry, Mum," she said. "I'll remember that. I promise."

Mum looked Daisy up and down for a moment, and then nodded, smiling reassuringly. "Right, then, I guess you best be off. On the train with you, sweetheart; go on."

"'Bye, Mum," Daisy said, turning to leave and board the train. She took a few steps and then saw Rachael, the slight pale girl she met when getting her robes fitted. She was with younger boy, a man with wearing a sharp looking green trench coat with silver clasps and a white Fedora, and a woman that clearly her Mum. Happy to see a familiar face, Daisy started towards her. The man and the woman, who looked angry about something, were fussing with the boy. As she approached, Rachael's eyes looked frantic as she shook her head ever so slightly and mouthed the words 'not now' at her.

Daisy stopped dead. Gaping for a moment, she was a little stunned that she was being snubbed so quickly by someone she barely knew. Just then, her Mum came rushing to her side.

"Don't forget your cat, sweetheart!" she cried, toting Hermione in her cage. Daisy took the cage, thanking her Mum. Daisy had named the cat she got at Diagon Alley Hermione – not after Ron's wife, but just because she thought it was a cool sounding name. Before Mum could take notice of Rachael and her family, Daisy gave her a quick peck on the cheek and boarded the train, Hermione mewing with frustration at being cooped up as she did. She had thought that she and Rachael had started off great, but if Rachael disagreed, that was fine by her.

She had no sooner got on the train and started to search for a place to sit when she heard Rachael calling from behind her. Daisy turned to face Rachael, doing her best not to growl at her.

"Listen, Daisy, I'm really sorry about that back there on the platform." Rachael said. "It's just that my parents are really, picky about whom I should and shouldn't associate with, and I didn't want to cause a scene..."

"I get it," Daisy shot back quickly. "You don't think I'm good enough to please Mummy and Daddy. I guess you figured that out back at the Tailor, didn't you? It's fine, really, if I'm not up to snuff for you or them, then I'll stay right clear of you. How does that sound?" She started to turn away again.

"That's not it, please, Daisy!" Rachael said. Daisy looked back at her and saw that her hazel eyes were starting to water up, so she decided to hear Rachael out. "It's not like I agree with my parents or even like the way they think; I don't. That's why I wanted to come to Hogwarts instead of being taught at home or at a closer school. So I can have a chance to not become a copy of them."

"Daisy wanted to retort that she didn't like the idea of being some dirty secret behind Rachael's parents back, but the look in Rachael's eyes said so much; she was doing her best to tell the truth. Besides, what else was she supposed to do? She was eleven years old and it wasn't like she could just tell her parents off, was it? Not just that, but once they were at school, she and Rachael would have loads of time together, and who cared if her parents knew or not? Maybe Rachael was right; maybe being away from them would help her start making choices of her own.

"Right, then," she said, beckoning Rachael to come closer. "Let's find a place to sit."

Rachael managed a relieved smile and came closer. "Thanks for that," she said again. "And I really am sorry about the way I acted."

Daisy nodded slowly. "We'll just put that misunderstanding behind us, right?" She suggested. Rachael agreed. Then they went about the business of finding a seat. Already it seemed most of the cars were full, except for one, which was occupied by just two boys; the two that Daisy saw come onto the Platform when Mum was giving her the lecture for the hundred and first time. Daisy rapped gently on the door before opening it, thus interrupting their conversation.

"Hi," she said, "sorry to interrupt, but we were wondering if we could sit in here? Everywhere else seems full."

"Not at all," the handsome boy said, smiling. Daisy noted to herself that his smile made him seem even better looking than before. "Please do come on in."

"Thanks," Daisy said, entering the car with Rachael right behind her. She sat beside the dark skinned boy with the great hair and even better smile, while Rachael sat beside the skinny boy who looked a little too young to be coming to school yet. "I'm Daisy Dursley, and this," she said, indicating Rachael "is Rachael North."

"Hi, I'm Adam Macmillan," said smiling Adam before pointing towards young and skinny, "and this is Richard Gavin. I know he looks a little young, but he's super smart. By the way he talks, I'd guess he's read everything we'll all be studying this year and memorized it all forwards and back!"

"That's not true!" Richard cried back with mock hurt in his voice. "I still got two or three chapters in A History of Magic to get through..."

This brought a polite laugh from all three, as they shook hands. Daisy noted that Richard's accent was similar to Rachael's. In very short order, Daisy picked up that Richard was indeed highly intelligent; actually, he sort of seemed to be showing off a little bit. She guessed maybe that was because he didn't have much else to offer; he was small, skinny, and not terribly attractive. His nose was slightly hooked, and he had a weak chin. In addition, he seemed to defer to what his Mum says a lot. Adam was, in contrast, clearly a dynamic young man from good upbringing.

2

Like I said earlier, I spent most of the week after Diagon Alley in my room at the Leaky Cauldron, practically living in my books. When I was hungry, I ate, when I was tired, I slept (well, eventually, there was a couple of times I shot awake leaning across the small desk in the room, almost drooling over one of the books I was pouring through.) Luckily, I have a really good memory, even if I'm a little scatterbrained sometimes. It wasn't until the 28th of August that I realized I still had to work out my route to King's Cross Station. That day I spent hours just going back and forth between the two places in order to make sure I knew the way. I'll admit, I have a dreadful sense of direction. I can get lost on a one Way Street; my head is so high up in the clouds; as my Mom says.

I got back into the Leaky Cauldron, and Tom the Landlord asked what I'd been doing all day. I told him I was simply making sure I knew how to get to King's Cross.

"Well, why go to so much trouble, young sir?" Tom asked. "Why not just call the Cab?"

He had a point; I could have just called a taxi. Of course, I'd have to set for pick up at someplace other than the tavern; I wasn't sure any Muggle even knew this place existed.

"But Tom, where would I get the cab?" I asked. "I mean, do the Muggles even know where this place is?"

Tom the Landlord gave himself a facepalm. "Of course, sir, I forgot." He said. "How could you know? There's no need to worry about the Muggles, sir. I meant you could use the Whitecastle Taxi Service. Simply step outside, put out your hand and call for a taxi. One will come."

"Great, thanks." I said. That was good to know.

By my estimate, it would take about half an hour to get there and perhaps an hour to get ready to leave. I asked Tom to set a wake up call for nine am. Tom nodded happily enough.

Sure enough, Tom rapped on the door at nine sharp the next morning; I was already awake. I just had too much nervous energy to get much sleep; it was sort of like the night before going to the PNE, only better. Anyway, he knocked and opened the door to let me know it was nine o'clock. I thanked him and wasted no time in getting ready. I was indeed packed and ready at fifteen minutes before ten, which gave a little bit of time to enjoy an extra cup of coffee before going outside. Normally my Mom doesn't let me have any coffee- she says it will stunt my growth- but I have been known to sneak in a Starbucks from across the street from Elementary school I used to go to in Burnaby.

At ten, I stepped outside, stuck out my hand and called for a taxi, like Tom advised. No sooner than I did, I heard a small _thump_ behind me somewhere, and a sparkling white taxi cab was pulling up right beside me. The driver, an East Indian gentleman who looked to me to be about thousand years old, rolled down a window and greeted me, smiling.

"Thank you for using the Whitecastle Taxi Service." He said in clipped English. Available twenty-four-seven to take witches and wizards where they need to go; my name is Jasper Jouhal, and I will be your driver today. Please, come in."

"Oh, okay, thanks." I replied, and got into the backseat. Unlike any cab I'd been inside of in Burnaby, the Whitecastle Cab was spotless and smelled as if it had just been detailed. The interior was as immaculate as the exterior. "Uh, I'd like to go to King's Cross, please." I said once he got behind wheel after placing my trunk into the boot of the cab.

"Very good, sir," Jasper nodded, and we headed off. He glanced at me in the mirror occasionally, but didn't speak; I gathered he was maybe waiting for me to engage in conversation, but I couldn't really think of anything to say. I will say this much, though, Jasper was a very good driver; it was like we were gliding on air, and weaving through the heavy London morning traffic with such ease it would have been easy to forget we were in the middle of a large metropolis. At times, it seemed as though we were passing by cars that were caught in impossible traffic jams as if they were not even there. At any rate, we made it to King's Cross with time to spare.

Inside the station, I realized that I had no idea how to get the actual platform; where was Nine and Three Quarters, anyway? I found nine, and then I found ten. The whole thing was very confusing.

Just then, I caught movement from the corner of my eye. To my relief, the Macmillan's were a touch early too. Their procession into the station was remarkably orderly and calm; Adam was toting a trunk much like his own, with his little sister sitting on top of it holding on to a cage with an owl in it. Mr. and Mrs. MacMillan, a very handsome couple, brought up the rear, holding hands. They looked just like any other perfectly normal family setting to get on the train – albeit an extraordinarily well dressed family; as if they were on their way to someplace very important.

"Hey, Richard, hi" Adam said, smiling warmly. "I'm glad to see you made it okay." Erin hopped off his trunk and scampered to Mrs. MacMillan's side, leaving the owl on top of the trunk.

"Me, too," I said truthfully. "I just now realized that I have no idea how to get onto the platform." Internally I cringed once the words were out; I didn't want to sound like that was all I wanted from him. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, that one's easy," he said, a hint of laughter in his voice. He pointed at the pillar between Platforms nine and ten. "The entrance right there in that pillar. If you got your trolley ready, I can show you."

We lined up in front of the pillar.

"Are you ready, boys?" Mr MacMillan asked

"Ready, Dad." Adam confirmed.

"Right, then, Richard you watch what Adam does, and then go in straight away. If you're a little nervous about crashing, it's best to get a bit of a run at it." Mr. MacMillan.

I nodded. To be honest, I was pretty much petrified. I had visions of me crashing mindlessly into the pillar and looking like a complete dimbulb. Mr MacMillan urged Adam to go on. Adam took a deep breath and then charged straight at the pillar...

...and ran right through it! I could hardly believe my eyes! One minute he was here, and then in less time it took to blink, he was gone! Mr MacMillan tapped me on the shoulder, urging me on. I inhaled deeply and held my breath as I bolted straight into the pillar; worried I might shriek like a baby.

The next thing I knew, I was in what certainly seemed like another world entirely; one like Diagon Alley. Even the train was completely different; it was an old storybook style of train, but it looked good as new. It was all bright and shiny and perfect; I can't think of a better way to describe it

"It's brilliant, isn't it?" Adam asked.

At a loss for words, I just nodded.

"How about we get on straight away? I can't wait to see the inside!"

"Yeah, that'd be great." I finally managed to spit out, and we got on the train. We found an empty car easily enough, and once we got ourselves all organized, I asked him if he knew anything more about the Corax. In the books, I learned they are shape-changers; Humanoid to Raven, with a kind of Were-Raven form between. I also knew that they can change at will, and are not subject to the cycles of the moon; but that was pretty much all that I could find.

"They're almost fanatically territorial." Adam said casually. "Once they find a place to set their nest, they get quite protective of it. They also network with normal ravens and crows, so they tend to be highly intelligent; if they happen to take to a particular witch or wizard, their magic sometimes starts to feed off each other, and that witch or wizard will have a great amount of access to information that practically nobody else has."

"So it's kind of like magic internet." I commented.

Adam scrunched his nose. "What?"

Then it occurred to me; maybe living in the Wizard world has made it so he doesn't know what the internet is. I mean, why would he understand something he might not even ever need to use?

"Never mind," I said. "It's a Muggle computer thing. Have you ever met or seen a Corax?"

"I wouldn't know for sure," Adam replied. "Definitely not in its Wereform; the problem is in its Raven or Homid form you can't really tell. I heard they tend to be really scrawny and scruffy looking as homids, and often can't ever shut up, but then again that doesn't tell us much, does it?"

There was a knock on the car door. We both looked up to see a couple of girls asking if they could join us. It was the athletic looking blond I saw at Diagon Alley and the slight girl. The blond introduced herself as Daisy Dursley, and the other as Rachael North. Adam introduced himself and then introduced me; making a comment about how I already have the books memorized. I pointed out that I don't have all the chapters of A History of Magic, and this brought about some laughter. Shortly after that, a woman came along asking if we wanted anything from the trolley. The other three all seemed to know what to ask for, and I noticed Chocolate Frogs were popular among all of them, so that's what I ordered, too. Quickly after that, all our talk seemed to be centered on the trading cards.

Adam was quite keen to trade pretty much anything; he seemed mostly interested in helping the rest of us build up our collections. Rachael traded me her Hermione Granger, which she said she already had, for a Severus Snape. These were both names and faces I knew from the books, so I agreed. Then Adam traded me an Albus Dumbledore for a Snape that he had; he said that the Snape card was quite rare and I might not ever find one again, and he lucked out once and got a pair by mistake anyway. Rachael tried everything to coax a Ginny Weasley out of Daisy, but Daisy wouldn't budge on that one. The only one I wasn't willing to part with was a Filius Flitwick; mainly because he was one of the very few wizards I actually met in person.

"Merlin's Beard, I can't believe my good fortune!" a voice said from the door. We all looked over and saw a rotund man with a great mustache that made him look a little like a walrus standing before us. "How lucky it was for me to find all four of you all at once! Now I won't even need to send out messengers to invite you!"

"Good morning, Professor Slughorn," Adam piped up cheerfully. "It's good to meet you; my father has spoken very highly of you."

"Thank you, Mr. MacMillan – or dare I call you Adam?" Slughorn said, beaming. "I remember your father very well; an excellent student, especially when one considers the circumstances when he attended my classes. Those were difficult times for all of us, you know. I tell you, though, your father managed to stay right on track through it all. When he decided to become a healer I had no doubt he would excel at it, and was especially proud when he and your mother discovered the cure for Frostlung. I look forward to teaching you as well; I'm certain you will be every bit as promising as your parents."

"Thank you, sir." Adam smiled.

"Hang on," Daisy interjected. "What is Frostlung, exactly?"

"It's a disease," I blurted, knowing the answer. "The name is kind of misleading, as it has nothing really to do with the cold. What happens is your lungs first develop a certain kind of moisture after inhaling the spoors of a specific kind of mushroom, and then moisture starts to crystallize. Left untreated, your lungs with eventually fully crystallize so that you can't breathe." I turned to Adam. "I can't believe I didn't make the connection the Ernie and Romilda MacMillan that created the cure for it was your parents."

"Very good, Mr. Gavin," Slughorn said. "I see already that you show all the potential any of us could hope for. Quite remarkable at your age."

"Thanks," I said.

"As for you, Mrs. Dursley, I believe you are related to Harry Potter himself." Slughorn said, turning his attention to Daisy.

Daisy nodded. "He's my uncle." She said.

"Whoa," Adam said, clearly awestruck. Even Rachael, whom I got the impression wasn't terribly impressed by much of anything, perked up at this revelation.

Slughorn chuckled. "Whoa, indeed, Adam; we have a legitimate third generation of Potters amongst us. In fact there are now three in total, as well as yet another generation of Weasley's." He paused, seemingly lost in reflection. For a moment his eyes took on the thousand yard stare that suggested he was lost in his own thought.

"Of course, there's also you, Mrs. North, our other student from oversees." He said finally. "Your father is, of course, the international reporter Rigel North from the Daily Prophet. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but despite the name your parents made for themselves while in class, I for one have very high hopes for you; I don't mind saying."

"That's very kind of you to say, Professor, thank you." Rachael replied.

"You're very welcome, my dear." Slughorn said. "Well, I suppose I best be moving along, then. Leave you four to it, as they say." He turned and began to move his girth with a surprising grace. "Oh, but before I forget; I wonder if you four would like to join me in my car for a bite later on? Say, in about three hour's time? In car number three? That would be wonderful; I hope to see you then!" Then Professor Slughorn was gone.

"Well, that was interesting." I said. "Now would somebody care to tell me what that was all about?"

"That was Professor Horace Slughorn; the Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House." Rachael answered with a light giggle. "I think he's trying to collect us."

"What do you mean, collect us?" I asked.

"For the Slug Club," she replied, "see, that's what he does. He handpicks certain students that he believes are going to be something special; usually he goes for those that have some kind connection to Witches or Wizards of note, promising new entrants, those that come with a good reputation, that sort of thing."

"What does do that for?"

"Why do you think?" Adam cut in. "To leave a kind of legacy. He likes to think that he contributed to what his Club members became, see. It's his way of trying to leave his mark in history."

"I see." I said. I didn't, not really; I guessed that in a way Slughorn was part of history, so what was wrong with him surrounding himself with the ones he thought had potential? "So what do you guys say? Are we going to see him after?"

The consensus of the three was that there was no harm in going. In fact, Rachael implied that there was even a chance for some gain by going. With that settled, our talk went on to general topics: Quidditch, the Houses, and Wands came up. Adam seemed to know an awful lot about wands. I got the impression they were a hobby of his or something.

3

 _From the Diary of Rachael Truth North:_  
 _Aug 31:_

So this is it! I'm here in the Pit now, but this is the last night before going to school! I know, most kids my age dread the first day back to school- well, most Muggle kids do, anyway – but then they don't have to live with a family of...I don't know...

That's not true, I do know what they are, but I just don't want to say it because they're my family, y'know? It really sucks to have to say it; they're bigots. There, I said it. I hate what they are and that's why I'm looking forward to school at Hogwarts; so I can get away from that poisonous way of thinking for, like, seven months more or less. I might even try to stay here through Christmas; say it's too far to travel for such a short visit or something.

Earlier today Mom and Dad called me into their suite. They'd been in there all day working out some potion or something; or so I thought until after I came in. Mom beckoned me closer to them. The suite was rank; like charred flesh and boiled cabbage. Then Dad had me kneel in front of Mom, who was kneeling as well. They made me hold out my right hand, palm up. Then Dad handed Mom two things: first a clay cylinder with what looked to me like runes all over it, and then a small silver knife. Mom opened the cylinder; inside it was a white powder. After placing it on the floor between us, she grabbed my wrist and cut my hand with the blade. Of course a yelped out, but it was more surprise than pain; the blade was sharp enough and Mom quick enough that I barely felt the cut happen. Then she manipulated my hand into a fist and squeezed until several drops of blood spilled into the cylinder. Finally she slammed the lid back onto it and shook it violently.

When she was done, she opened it again, peered inside, and smiled a satisfied smile and nodded. She showed me the contents and the powder was blood red all the way through. Closing the lid up again, she handed me the cylinder. With an air of triumph, she said that was not likely something I will learn at Hogwarts. Dad explained that it was warding powder, and if I were to sprinkle it at either doorsteps and window sills, or even in a circle around myself, then none that wish to harm me will be able to pass. He also said that it had been engineered with elves in mind; meaning of course that not even the house elves would be able to penetrate or remove it. Then mom did a healing charm on my hand. So my hand's fine now, but it still seemed like a nasty thing to do.

 _Sept 1:_

I think I almost blew it with Daisy today. We were on the platform, I was with my parents and she had wandered away from Potter and his relatives; she was sticking close to her Mom. Mom gave her some last minute advice that I couldn't hear before she went on to board. Daisy looked like it was some advice she wasn't into hearing; or maybe that she'd already heard about a hundred times. Anyway, I guess I must have caught Daisy's eye because she started towards me just as my parents were fussing over Polaris.

I panicked for a moment. Mom already had an idea who Daisy was, and whom she was related to. If that wasn't bad enough, mom was also aware that Daisy was Muggle-Born; and in her mind the only thing worse than what she calls a 'Mudblood' is a Blood Traitor. I know, right? It's hateful and wrong-headed. Well, the last thing I wanted was to get caught up in a scene there on the platform, so I tried to signal to her- Daisy – that it wasn't the right time. Daisy got the signal, and after her mom caught up and made sure she had her cat she stormed onto the train. I was acting like a total coward. But I think I smoothed that over; I rushed in after her and explained it as best I could and I'm pretty sure she understood y'know? I really hope so; I really like her. Well, I have the rest of the year to not have to be all shady about everything, so hopefully we can be friends for real now.

We agreed to sit together for the ride, anyway; that's a good sign, right? So we found the emptiest car we could; it was occupied by two boys named Adam and Richard. Adam is, I'm willing to bet, the kind of guy that everybody loves and also secretly hates because they love him. I'll just bet he's just about as perfect as anyone could possibly be. Given how...tidy he is, I'm guessing he might be a bit of a neat freak. Richard looks like he's almost the direct opposite. They agreed to let us sit with them. Adam was right about Richard; he seemed to know a lot about pretty much everything in an academic sense. I guess that's what happens when your only knowledge of our world comes from books. It's actually kind of impressive how quickly he's grasped the basics, considering he's had a week to read everything. He should make for a good study partner, even if he does seem to like to show off his knowledge a little bit. Adam is pretty smart, too, especially when it comes to wands; it seems like that's kind of a hobby for him.

So we sat and talked, we traded chocolate frog cards, and then Professor Slughorn showed up and started to set us up to join his club. I guess that's something I can share with mom and dad; I'm sure they'll be pleased that I've been invited into what they'd consider an exclusive subset of the school; Slughorn does have a pretty good record for picking out the winners in life.

4

"Er, Richard?" Adam called to Richard as he headed in the opposite direction from the other three. They were supposed to be off responding to Professor Slughorn's invitation. "You do know that car three is this way, right?"

"Oh, right." Richard replied as he turned around and joined them, looking embarrassed. "My bad; I've always had a dreadful sense of direction. Mom always says I'd get lost on a one way street."

Daisy chuckled heartily. Rachael cracked a smile that seemed to add a little color to her skin; Adam couldn't help but wonder how anyone could be so pale and not be ill. He'd think maybe it was a Canadian trait, but then Richard was nowhere near so pale, though he did look slightly malnourished; odds were good that would change after seven months at Hogwarts, if what his mum and dad said about the food there was true.

The way dad sometimes talked about Slughorn, Adam was quite looking forward to meeting him and talking more closely. It wasn't mentioned in any detail, but both his parents got their jobs at St. Mungo's largely on a reference given through the Potions Master. It was quite evident, especially with his dad, that Professor Slughorn had an approach to teaching that made his class actually rather fun- as opposed to the former Potions Master who was really quite frightening- even if Professor Snape was undeniably brilliant.

When they arrived at car three, the car was already packed quite full; though it was possible it only seemed so due to Slughorn himself, who seemed to fill nearly half the car himself, sitting in a very comfortable looking armchair. His car was... different from the other; it was more luxurious somehow, and despite seeming to be quite full, it also appeared to be considerably larger. Adam suspected that Slughorn may have enchanted it for this meeting of his Club. They entered the car; first Adam, followed by Daisy, then Richard, and Rachael bringing up the rear; who almost slinked in, like she didn't feel she quite belonged. There were several older students whom Adam didn't know already there, as well as Harry Potter's sons James and Albus, and a young red-haired girl with a pleasant and determined looking face who looked about their age. Daisy waved at the Potter boys and the red haired girl straight away.

"Oh, good, you've all decided to come!" said Slughorn cheerfully. "Please, come in and make yourselves comfortable!" Reaching forward, he plucked a slice of candied pineapple from the table before him.

Adam, Daisy, Rachael and Richard found places to sit. Almost immediately, Richard shot back up and approached the table to pick up a sweet that Adam had never seen before. As he popped it in his mouth, Rachael took notice of what he was eating and rushed to the table to help herself as well.

"Yes, by all means, help yourselves." Slughorn encouraged. "I found those in a Muggle candy store in Canada; quite popular over there, as I understand. I can see why; they really are quite tasty."

"Well, what are they, then?" Daisy asked.

They're called Maple Chews." Richard said, tossing one to each Daisy and Adam. "It's like a mix of Maple Syrup and Toffee."

Adam popped the chew into his mouth. His eyes went wide at the taste, which was exactly as Richard described, but not really at all what he imagined.

Not too bad, eh?" Rachael asked the both of them; though Adam got the impression her question was directed at Daisy more than him.

"It's brilliant!" Daisy replied, speaking for both of them. "Very sweet, though; that's probably going to max out my sugar intake for the rest of the day.

"A bit of a health nut, are you?" Professor Slughorn commented kindly, patting his belly. "It should be no surprise, I suppose. If I understand correctly, both of your parents are relatively famous athletes; is that correct?"

"Yes, Professor, it is." Daisy confirmed. "They're both Mixed Martial Arts fighters."

Richard swore. "So the Dynamo Dudley Dursley is your dad?" He asked. Daisy nodded. And she confirmed that Belladonna Dursley was indeed her Mum. Apparently this was some pretty big news to Richard, though neither Adam nor Rachael seemed to quite grasp why. For Rose Weasley and the Potter boys it was apparently old news. James Potter made an off-hand comment that he was all for hoping that Daisy got sorted into Gryffindor; as then she could probably teach the House non-magic combat.

For the most part, the others in the Slug Club were quite the chatty lot, but Albus was being particularly quiet. One thing Adam couldn't help noticing was how strongly Albus Potter resembled pictures he had seen of Harry Potter – just without the legendary scar.

Next Professor Slughorn went about praising Richard, indicating that it was only fitting that he would be aware of Daisy's parentage, and beaming at his evident brilliance in relation to his age. One of the older Club members commented that if Richard _wasn't_ sorted Ravenclaw, then the Sorting will have _finally gotten one wrong._ After a round of light chuckles at the remark, Professor Slughorn turned his attention to Rachael.

"And what about you, young lady," he began cordially, "may I ask what your aspirations are? To be a reporter and follow in your father's footsteps?"

"Well, actually," Rachael said carefully. "I'm not sure what I want to do just yet. I was really thinking of, you know, trying to take my own path."

"Oh, please understand, I didn't mean to imply or presume anything at all," Professor Slughorn said quickly, almost apologetically. "I think it's quite admirable that you're interested in seeking your own way; or perhaps blazing your own trail, as it were." Nobody commented as to which House she may or may not be sorted into; Adam guessed most just presumed she would be Slytherin. Both her parents were Slytherin, so that would appear to be a safe bet. Adam didn't want to come off as prejudiced, but part of him also guessed that since she seemed alright, she would probably be one of the good ones as far as Slytherin House went.

"That brings us to you, Adam." Slughorn said. "I know it's early to say yet, but I can't help being curious. Are there any career aspirations for you? I'm sure both your parents would be delighted with anything you chose..." Professor Slughorn trailed off, as if he was trying to avoid stepping on any eggshells or making any social faux pas.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I'm a little bit torn." Adam replied. "I can't quite decide if I want to become a healer like Mum and Dad, or go into making Wands. They're really quite fascinating, you know."

Slughorn nodded appreciatively. "Well, both of those would be quite the honorable professions, I say." He said, and then asked a few questions about wandlore; which was a topic that several of the Club members seemed intrigued by and rather impressed with Adam's knowledge on the subject already.

For most of the remainder of the trip, Professor Slughorn regaled the students with his connections and associations, and the benefits that he gained as a result of them; not the least of which was a huge discount when it came to paying for any treatments he might require at St. Mungo's courtesy of Ernie and Romilda Macmillan, and of course his renewed free admission to any Holyhead Harpy Quidditch match thanks to Ginny Weasley. Upon mentioning Quidditch, the topic of conversation changed to the sport in a hurry; and Albus finally said something; he asked who Professor Slughorn thought would win the finals this season, which had some unexpected results so far.

Slughorn smiled. "Yes, it certainly has, hasn't it?" He replied. "My head and my hear t will always be with the Harpies, but the optimist in me truly believes that this surprising strength we've seen from Chudley Cannons is going to play through. I dare say this has been their best season since before any of you were born. I have no doubt it will come down to the Harpies and the Cannons, and after that I can't say for certain." He glanced out the window of the car as the train began to slow down.

"Oh, good gracious," he exclaimed. "Look at how late it's gotten! Amazing how time flies when you're among friends, isn't it? Well, I suppose I've talked your ears off enough for the evening; off you all go, now! It's time you got into your robes and ready to meet in the Great Hall. Go on then, off with you!"

The crowd in Slughorn's car disbanded and started to prepare for the final leg of their approach to the school in spirits that were quite high. For his part, Adam was anxious to find out where he'd be sorted and who'd be in his House with him.


	4. Chapter 4 The Great Hall

Daisy, Rachael, Adam and Richard exited the train after it came to a full stop; they were in their robes, just as all the other students were. Outside, she saw the station was on the shore of a huge lake. Off to one end of the station, there were several horse-drawn carriages with no horses. At the shore, a few boats were tied to a dock. Most of the students began making their way towards the carriages.

"Fir's years, over here!" a voice boomed. Daisy looked in the direction of the voice to identify the source and saw Hagrid looming near the boats. "Fir's years, come this way!"

A couple dozen or so kids that all seemed to be around her own age congregated towards Hagrid. It seemed to Daisy that already a lot of them were beginning to cluster together in little groups, or in some cases kind of tag along with one group or another. Also, some of these little groups also seemed to be more or less gathering closer together with each other than with others. She wasn't completely sure if this was a normal process for new students or not, though it did seem like something that people would do; whether Magical or Muggle.

She, Rachael, Adam and Richard stuck together; it seemed natural enough as they just spent several hours together. It also seemed reasonable enough that Albus Potter and Rose Weasley would sort of drift towards that group. Tagging along with them was a boy with blonde-almost-white hair, a pale face and a pointed chin; he carried himself with an air of pride and haughtiness, but Daisy got the idea that this bravado was a cover. Overall, theirs was the largest group; especially when taking into account there was also a pretty blonde with pigtails tied up in bright yellow ribbons. She had wide blue eyes; and she seemed to be making an effort to get as close to Adam as she could. Adam didn't seem to mind that too much. Then there was a plump boy with a tight brown afro, which had a strange way of making his head look too small for his body. This boy looked like he wanted to join in, but was being apprehensive about approaching. For reasons that Daisy couldn't quite explain, there was just something about him that she liked. She gave him an inviting smile, and he scurried up to join them, sort of placing himself amongst her, Albus, Rose, and the boy with the pointy chin.

On the shore were four boats, one slightly larger than the others. Hagrid was advising them to climb aboard, eight to one boat each, as he went about climbing into the larger one. The students started boarding. On her boat, Daisy was joined by Rachael, Richard, and Adam, then Albus and the pointy chinned blonde, the pig-tailed blonde girl, and finally the heavy set boy with the tiny head.

Hagrid pushed his boat off the shore and into the lake. As he did, the other three boats moved away from the shore by themselves to start to glide across the water with perfectly smooth grace. Daisy stole a glance back at the shore to the carriages she saw the older students climbing into. What she saw was unbelievable; the carts were pulling themselves! She nudged the heavy set boy, who was right beside her, and pointed to the shore. He looked were she was pointing and went completely ashen.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" She asked him.

The boy turned his head to face her; his expression somewhere between stunned awe and one that asked if she had gone mad without words. After a moment of silence his expression switched to one of dawning understanding; as if he realized something that Daisy had missed.

"Oh!" he stammered. "Er, yeah, yeah it is."

"This is going to be great!" Daisy exclaimed. She extended her hand to the boy. "I'm Daisy Dursley."

The boy took her hand and shook it, almost too gently. "Hi; I'm Philip Knox. I'm pleased to meet you." He said, some of his colour starting to return to his face.

"Likewise, I'm sure." Daisy replied.

"Hey, Daisy" Rachael called. "What's so great back at the shore? Take a look ahead at the castle! It's incredible!"

Daisy and Philip both turned around. The passengers on the boat were paired off and all staring intently at the Hogwarts Castle on the shore opposite them. Adam was next to pig-tails, Albus next to pointy chin, Rachael next to Richard, and finally Daisy was next to Philip.

Rachael wasn't lying. The Castle was really something spectacular to behold. Just looking at it made Daisy feel as if she was a noble knight coming home from a long crusade; though given she was witch, perhaps knight wasn't quite the right word. As far as she knew, knights didn't have magic.

Richard swore mildly under his breath. "It's a real castle!" He said a little more clearly. "I mean a really real castle. I never thought I'd actually see one."

"I know, right?" Rachael agreed. "It's like going back in time to the Middle ages, y'know?"

"That's exactly it!" Richard blurted. "That's exactly what I was thinking!"

For the briefest of moments, Daisy felt a twinge of resentment that Rachael was getting on so well with Richard. It wasn't that she didn't think Richard was a very good person or anything like that; it was more that he wasn't her. Why on earth was Rachael doing this? Was she trying to make her jealous? Or was this a Muggle-born thing?

"So, what house do you reckon you'll be sorted into?" Philip asked randomly. The break in her train of thought was just enough to make her realize how foolish and ridiculous she was being regarding Rachael; of course she'd be allowed to have friends besides her, Daisy. In a way, she was feeling a little bit ashamed of being so selfish to even entertain the notion that Rachael could only be friends with one person. Still, it seemed a certain kinship was developing between them- Rachael and Richard. Maybe it was because they were both Canadian. Meanwhile, up at the opposite end of the boat, Adam and Pig-tails were chatting away; Daisy had no idea what they were saying. Albus and pointy-chin were talking, too; to Daisy they almost seemed conspiratorial.

"Well, I'm hoping for Gryffindor." Daisy replied. "That's where my uncle and my aunt went; but I guess Hufflepuff would be alright, too."

"Excellent," Philip said. "I'm aiming to get into Gryffindor, too."

Finally they got all the way across the lake. Along the way, Philip told her that there was a sea monster- like a squid – living in the lake that sometimes comes into the surface. On that subject Daisy kept her skepticism to herself; it hardly seemed likely that a school would keep a creature like that on the premises.

At any rate, once they all got to the other side of the lake and in front of the school gates, they proceeded to enter through the main doors and into a magnificent hallway.

SPLASH!

No sooner than they got inside, Richard got pelted with a water balloon. Daisy gazed upwards, following the trajectory of the balloon to see a translucent being grinning maniacally overhead, his arms loaded with dozens of balloons.

"Welcome, first years, full of fears," he chanted in a kind of perverse sing-song voice, "Welcome, first years, here's your cheers!"

And then he began to lob his balloons into the crowd. Daisy easily sidestepped one that came her way. Richard dived out of the way in attempt to find cover. Rachael scuttled backwards, knocking over a pair of twins behind her. In so doing, she inadvertently saved all three of them from getting soaked. Adam ducked, and a balloon barely missed him, hitting pointy chin instead. Pig-tails was cringing behind Adam.

"PEEVES!"

The assault halted immediately at the sound of the shout, originating from the top of the staircase at the opposite end of the hallway. Just on their side of a door atop the staircase, a witch stood; she was at an age where her age was just beginning to show, but still looked strong, stern and distinguished. She kept her hair in a tight bun atop her head, wore thin-rimmed spectacles, and her face and posture was one that warned any who saw her that she was not one to be trifled with. Daisy recognized her as Headmistress Minerva McGonagall from the chocolate frog trading cards.

"That's enough of your nonsense! Away with you!"

From above, Peeves made a rude gesture before flying away, cackling as he vanished through a highly vaulted wall, dropping his balloons as he went. Even as the students began to reassemble and congregate towards the staircase, the Headmistress had turned away and passed the doorway into the room behind. As they began to file into the Great Hall for their first meal at Hogwarts, several of the paintings began to move around and greet them; bidding them welcome and good luck and such.

2

As I'm sure you can all imagine, I was really quite shocked when the water bomb hit me from above; but what you might not know is why I was so shocked. It wasn't so much the fact that I got so thoroughly soaked, it was that I was so careless that I didn't anticipate it in the first place; there's an entire chapter just on Peeves the Poltergeist in the latest edition of _Hogwarts, a History_. Seeing that I read that particular volume with a vested interest in order to help make sure I didn't get lost in the school's hallways on my way to any of my classes, I really should have seen it coming.

But I didn't. I guess that's that, then. Anyways, once his assault began, the other students ducked for cover. Daisy easily dodged a bomb lobbed her way, Rachael backed up, knocking over a pair of twins – one boy and one girl – and saved all three of them from getting soaked. Adam ducked, which meant that Albus' new friend got one square in the face; he seemed particularly displeased at that. I dove under a nearby table, and then I saw an incredibly beautiful spectre of a woman watching the events with a curiosity greater than the situation probably warranted. I was quite sure I getting a rare sighting of the Grey Lady; was she watching me specifically? Or was it the twins she was so interested in? I might never know for sure, because the moment she noticed that I had seen her, she retreated into shadows and out of sight.

Then Headmistress McGonagall appeared at the entrance into the Great Hall and called Peeves off. The Poltergeist obeyed, but not before flipping the Headmistress off. The paintings greeted us to their school and home as we reassembled ourselves and made our way towards the Great Hall.

"Hold up a second," I whispered to Rachael as we were about to enter. "Why didn't anybody tell us we've got to be sorted or anything?"

Rachael only shrugged, indicating she didn't know. Then she waved her wand and spoke a charm to dry me off.

"We heard they're saving the sorting for later." The girl twin said.

"They're changing things around, we heard." The boy twin said.

"What? Why?" Adam challenged. He was obviously very uncomfortable with the idea. I guess he had a set idea on how things went here, and being confronted with a change of plans threw him off.

"Dunno." The twins said together. Then they looked at each other and giggled, like they were in on some private joke.

"I don't like it." Adam said plainly. "It doesn't seem right; how are we supposed to know where we belong if they don't tell us which House we're in right away?"

As we were talking, I noticed Daisy marched straight in and straight up the middle of Hall. The tables were arranged differently than I pictured; Instead of four – one for each House – there were five, plus the elevated staff table at the far end. The House tables were set, instead of in four consecutive length-wise rows, were set cross- wise in pairs, two pairs on each side; Gryffindor and Hufflepuff on one side, and Slytherin and Ravenclaw on the other. Daisy was actually quite a ways ahead of the rest of the group, with the Philip the chubby kid that was in our boat with us coming in second.

"Well, I read in _Hogwarts, a History_ that Professor Dumbledore always thought the Sorting took place too soon. Maybe it has something to do with that." I suggested.

A painting of a slightly dour looking wizard glared at me with a grudging bit of admiration. That gave me the idea that I was onto something, and either he didn't like the change or was bitter that I had caught on.

"I guess that kind of makes sense." Rachael commented. "Maybe they want us to work out our roles in school. Maybe it's part of some long lesson or something."

"Well it's good at least one of you is able to work that out all by herself." Another wizard painting said snidely; the sallow-faced wizard in the frame had long, greasy looking black hair that framed his face and a rather large nose. He also looked considerably younger than most of the paintings. "There may be hope for this batch of students yet." This one could only be Professor Severus Snape.

We finally got to the end of the Hall, stopping just short of the last table which was set at the very front, just before the staff table. On a stage between the two tables was a lectern which had a great golden owl mounted in front of it, its wings spread wide as the Headmistress approached it.

"Welcome first years, and welcome students all to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Before we begin, there are a few announcements that need to be made; so please, first years," she pointed at the empty table, "sit."

We all took seats at the table. I took a moment to look closely at those at the staff table. There were only a few up there that I can say I recognized; Towards the middle was Professor Flitwick, whom I knew from his visit to my apartment back home, and next him was an empty seat which I presumed was where the Headmistress would be sitting. On the other side of Flitwick was a witch I didn't know yet, and on the other side of the vacant seat was a wizard I knew from both _A History of Magic: Updated edition_ and _Hogwarts: a History_ ,but not in person. That was Professor Neville Longbottom, the Herbology Professor. At one far end was Hagrid; the game keeper and Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, and at the other end was Rene Defaustis, whom I knew was a new addition to the staff as Counselor and Remedial Studies Instructor. To my understanding, he was intended as a student resource in the event any of us found we were having difficulties; a sort of peer to go to for help if we needed. I guess that makes sense; I can see how some kids might find going to an actual Professor a little bit intimidating. Rene was clearly much younger than the rest of the staff, and only a little older than any of the students. Maybe some kids would feel more comfortable going to someone closer to their own age for help.

"Now that we are all settled, I shall begin." The Headmistress stated. "For those of you who have been here before, I'm sure you have noticed a new tower has been added to the castle. Also, I have no doubt that all of you have noticed that we have not done the customary Sorting of the First Year Students. These two things are part of the same topic of discussion. Starting this year, we at Hogwarts will not be sorting the First Year Students until closer to the end of the year, and all first years will be staying in the new tower, which will be headed by Counselor Rene Defaustis, our new Revisions and Remedial Studies Counselor."

The Headmistress fell silent for a moment to allow for the murmurs to settle. Clearly this reaction was expected; it was a pretty drastic change. Finally she raised a hand to silence the crowd.

"I'm sure many of you are now wondering how this will effect House points. All first years will receive and lose credits in the same manner as points are gained and lost by all other students. Once the first years are sorted, those credits will be transferred into points for their new house.

"You have also noticed, I imagine, that there is a large nest on top of the new First Year Tower. We ask that the nest not be tampered with by anyone. Also, in each of the Houses, you will find a list of banished items. Our resident caretaker Argus Filch has asked me to advise each of you that anyone found with any of these items will have hell to pay. As always, the Forbidden Forest is strictly out of bounds for all First Years, and all other students will note an area has been roped off. Do NOT cross the ropes FOR ANY REASON."

Again, the Headmistress paused and eyed the crowd over her glasses; her look of severity spoke volumes to her sincerity on the matter. Personally, based on that look alone, I had no plans on breaking that rule.

"Last but certainly not least, we have a few new faces among our staff." She said, sounding a little more cheerful. "As I have already mentioned, there is Mr Rene Defaustis – whom several of you already know – our new Revisions and Remedial Studies Counselor."

Rene stood up, removed his porkpie hat and took a little bow as the students gave a polite round of applause; it seemed to me that there were a few that were a bit more exuberant than others. Looking around, I could see a few of what I guessed were second to fourth year students nodding approvingly, especially from the Ravenclaw table.

"Professor Susan Bones, our new Defense against the Dark Arts Professor," McGonagall continued as Rene sat back down and a rather unremarkable looking witch with reddish-brown hair stood up and gave what was almost a timid wave. The cheers and applause for her were considerably more enthusiastic; particularly from the Hufflepuff table. That was not a big shock, though; I knew the name from my books. She was one of the survivors of Lord Voldemort's last attack on the school.

"And finally, let me introduce Professor David Clover, our new Professor of Muggle Studies." As Susan Bones sat, a barrel shaped middle aged man stood up, raising a hand to greet more polite applause.

"I know who he is," Adam said quietly. "His brother works with my Mum and Dad at St. Mungo's. He's a squib, that one."

With that done, the Headmistress bid us enjoy the feast before it was time to retire for the night. The meal was fantastic. There was roast chicken and pork chops, mushroom gravy, an assortment of freshly steamed veggies, perogies, mashed potatoes, even a baked wild salmon on each table that was done perfectly.

Dinner was followed by a plethora of desserts. There were puddings, tarts, cakes and pies. There was even ice cream and sherbet of tons of different flavors; even some I had never even heard of. Rachael got especially excited about a sherbet that was orange and black striped; she called it tiger-tail and insisted all three of us try it. I have to admit it was pretty good. I wouldn't have guessed that orange and licorice combined would be that good.

Once dessert was done and the dishes vanished, the Headmistress bid all the students to 'tuck in'. She meant it was time for bed. The Prefects of the houses gathered the students at their tables and led them to their respective dorms. Meanwhile, Rene stood up and approached the first year table, and we followed him to the tower that would be our home and dorm. I caught up to Rene as quickly as I could.

"Excuse me, sir?" I called out, causing him to pause and let me catch up. As I did, I saw he was grinning kindly.

"Please," he replied. "If we are going to talk, I'd ask you to call me Rene."

"Alright," I agreed. "Rene, I was wondering if you knew what the story was with that nest. Do you know what lives in it?"

Rene coughed a light laugh. "As a matter of fact I do." He admitted. "That is a Corax nest. One of the Children of Helios has decided to make the Hogwarts grounds his home. It should prove to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. In fact, it already has; the Corax has proven instrumental in settling affairs between the wizarding community and the Centaurs. Not to mention the added layer of security and source of information he and his brethren will provide."

A Corax! I could hardly believe it! I wondered if the Corax here was the same one that provided the core for my wand.

"Do you know him? If you do, what's his name? What's he like?"

Rene tilted his head slightly; I got the impression it was out of curious interest. "You're certainly an inquisitive one, aren't you?" He asked. "What did you say your name was? Remind me."

I had an idea that he didn't really need reminding; that this was some kind of test. "I'm Richard; Richard Gavin."

"Ah yes," Rene smiled. "Richard Gavin, son of David the Auror. The young one. No pressure or anything, but we all have high expectations of you; we all believe you have the potential to be something special. To answer your questions, Richard; yes, I know him quite well. He calls himself Perniculus. As for what is he like, well, he's a Corax. They tend to be bright, territorial, quite friendly overall, and if you give them the chance to, they'll talk your ear off. To befriend one of them is to run the risk of losing several hours of sleep in exchange for engaging conversation. Perniculus is no different. I guess I should add that you'll likely see loads of crows and Ravens on the grounds; don't let that worry you. The idea that they are a bad omen is nothing but a lot of rubbish made up by fear-mongering Muggles."

"I see." I said. "Did I tell you that my wand has a Corax core? That's why I wanted to know more about them. Adam said that a Corax wand would only choose a witch or wizard that the Corax would approve of."

Rene tilted his head in an almost playful way. For a moment I thought it was in response to a crow cawing as it flew by overhead. It didn't even occur to me at the time how odd it was for a crow to be flying by night; and indoors at that.

"Well, that's certainly true, what your friend Adam told you." Rene answered. "You might have told me that; it certainly does sound like something I was told."

"Do you think it might have been Perniculus who supplied the core?" I asked hopefully. I kind of figured it might help to have the approval of the local Corax.

"That does seem possible." Rene admitted. "Perniculus did supply a wingtip feather for Ollivander once that I remember." He paused as we got to the entrance of the tower. "But that's enough of that for now. It's high time let you all in to your new home for the next few months."

The entrance to the first year tower was a pair of oaken doors flanked by two suits of armor armed with spears on either side. As we reached the door the suits moved, crossing their spears to form a great 'X' in front of the doors.

"Okay, everyone; you want to pay attention. In order to get into the tower, you have to tell the guards the password. Then they will go back to their normal position and the doors will open." Rene explained.

He looked at the guards and said: " _Aperi portam_."

Then, just as he said they would, the suits reverted to their original position of standing at attention and the door glided open silently. Rene then gave us a tour of the tower, which ended by showing us two sets of stairs which led to our dorms- boys and girls respectively. By then I was surprised to find out just how tired I was. Though excited about what the days ahead had in store, I fell asleep almost as soon as my head the pillow.

3

 _From the Diary of Rachael Truth North_  
 _Sept 1 (continued)_

So anyways, Slughorn went on showing off a little bit about the favor he'd earned from students he'd instructed in the past. Actually, he fell just barely shy of claiming it was his influence on their lives that was solely responsible for their success. It was pretty clear that he liked to think he at least played an important role; apparently Adam caught on to that, the way he told the old Potions Master how highly his parents spoke of him. That will definitely gain Adam a ton of favor in classes over the next few years. I might want to stay close to him; maybe some of that favor will filter over to me by association.

But that's enough of that. Before we all knew it, the train was slowing down and we were at Hogsmead Station. We all filed out of the train and joined Hagrid on the boats. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but as soon as we got off the train, a large black bird – I think it was a raven – flew quite low over our heads and across the lake. Most of the trip across I was talking with Richard; he really is quite bright, y'know? I'm pretty sure he's going to do just fine even though he is technically a year younger than the rest of us. We marveled at seeing a real castle for a bit, and then he started going on; first some about history, and then he really got going on astronomy. With just his naked eye and from memory I guess he was able to point out and name the stars and the planets and already knew more about the 'heavenly bodies' than I would have ever guessed was even known by anyone. My bet is he is going to basically own Astronomy class; unless of course if Muggle Astronomy is different than Wizard Astronomy- but then maybe not even then.

On the trip, Daisy made a new friend. A fat kid named Philip. I know it's mean to call a kid like him fat, but he is! He really is; I'm sorry but it's true. Personally, I think Philip likes her; I mean, like, _likes_ her, y'know? By the time we got across the lake and into the Great Hall, he was already hounding behind her like a lost puppy. Meanwhile, Adam seems to be getting pretty cozy with a totally classic pretty girl; I think her name is Indigo or something like that. There was also a pair of paternal twins with us; named Oliver and Olivia. There's something weird about them. I don't know what exactly, but something isn't quite right; or maybe I'm just imagining things. Oh! And Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter seem to have hit it off straight away. The mom especially talked about their fathers, I would never have guessed that would happen. If one of them were a girl I would call it a Romeo and Juliet situation.

Maybe I'll include that in my letter to my parents; I'm sure they'd love that anecdote. I'll also have to mention the delay in the Sorting; hopefully neither of them gets too worked up about it. Maybe I'll explain it's just so we don't stereotype ourselves into what we _think_ we're supposed to be like based on what popular opinion of each House is. Dad should be okay with that, anyway. I'll also mention that we still get points that will be added to our respective houses at the end of the year after the Sorting, so really the change doesn't change much at all. That should settle mom down some, though I'm sure to get a reply urging me to get as many points as possible in order to boost Slytherin's chance of winning this year. It is basically presumed I'll be sorted into the Slytherin House anyway, so the delay is moot.

There's a new addition to the staff; a Remedial Studies and Revisions Counselor named Rene Defaustis. He's barely older than any of us students; in fact I swear I heard some of the older kids saying he's just graduated. Dad once said Hogwarts normally have a certain age standard for new staff members. If that's true, then Rene must be one slick talker; he doesn't look like he could buy his way in, and I can't imagine he'd dare try to confound or obliviate the Headmistress- not unless he's completely out of his mind. So he must have talked his way in, and he's probably also very good at whatever it is he's supposed to do. Anyway, he's also serving as head of First Year Tower, so he took us to the Dorm and showed us in. The first year tower is password protected; like the Slytherin and Gryffindor towers are. That alone got me thinking how more alike the respective houses are than they are different; maybe that's why they don't like each other as a general rule. Maybe they see too much of what they don't like in themselves in each other- the parts of themselves they'd rather pretend don't exist.

Anyway, I'm kind of rambling there. The Common Room of the tower is simple, yet elegant. It seems like it's designed to allow us to sort of make of it what we will. The curtains on the windows are interesting; they alternate in colour; each according to the each of the Houses colours. There's not a fireplace, but instead a wood burning stove in the middle with piping going up almost to the roof before it veers off to one side. There are also pipes like vents branching off to the dorms; like a primitive version of central heating or something. Also, right by the door there's a scroll and quill in case we want to request Rene's assistance confidentially. Apparently all we need to do write on the parchment who we are and what subject we'd like help with. The words will vanish from the scroll and then his response will appear for a moment and that too will vanish. It's like wizard text messaging n a way; which is awesome that there's a staff member that is almost up to date with modern Muggle means of communicating. I bet Richard would think so too. It's even cooler than Floo Post, and that says _a lot_.

The dorm is nice. There are a dozen beds, and our trunks were already up here when we arrived. It's kind of neat how Daisy and I ended up bunked next to each other. Then of course there's Vanessa York; I don't like her much at all. Right off the bat she's going off about how she's running the show in the dorm. Already it looks like a few of the girls are buying into her crap; one of them in particular stands out, and that's Diane Hodges.

Anyway, I'm getting a little sleepy now, and it is getting late. I worked out how to password protect my diary so it won't open unless I say the password (redundant comment I know.) I'll write my letter to mom and dad tomorrow during breakfast.

 _A Letter to Pansy North ne Parkinson and Rigel Thurissaz North_  
 _From Rachael Truth North_  
 _Sept 2_

 _Dear Mom and Dad:_

 _I'm here safe and sound at Hogwarts. As you said, the food here is great, and so far the teachers seem very reasonable. Also the sleeping accommodations are quite comfortable; I don't think there will be much of a problem with homesickness from any of the students. I bet by now you might be wondering why you haven't got any notification about which House I've been sorted into yet. That's because nobody has; you see, this year they're trying something different. They're letting the first years get settled and oriented before doing the sorting. I think it's some kind of test to see if we can work out our place within these halls or something like that. I'm not complaining; just explaining. Actually, I think it might even be a good idea. I mean, most of us probably already pretty much know what House we're going to anyway, so It won't make much of a difference, but maybe we'll learn something about ourselves that we didn't know. Maybe we'll find out who we really are without any assumed ideas. Sorting will take place near the end of the year, and then credits we earn will be transferred to the House we are sorted into. Meantime, the first years have their very own tower to board in. It's kind of neat._

 _I guess that's all I really needed to say right now. Oh, right; it's kind of like how you said it would be, Mom. Almost right away it seems like little clicks are forming- mostly people who rode together on their way here. I'm trying to avoid that for now, like you said to, until I really know who's who and what they're about. I wouldn't want to fall into the wrong crowd, would I? I will say this, though; it seems that I may have an in with the Slug Club already. Professor Slughorn had already invited me to his train car for part of the trip. I'd guess that's because of dad. One interesting friendship that seems to be forming struck me as unlikely. It's Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, believe it or not. They're barely off the train and already appear as thick as thieves; if one of them was a girl it would be like Romeo and Juliet, the way you talk about their fathers. If you don't get the reference, it's from Shakespeare; a Muggle poet and playwright. I know I've heard dad quote or at least allude to one of his other plays called Macbeth._

 _Much love and stuff, Rachael_.

4

Adam Macmillan was having no luck falling asleep after dinner. The meal was excellent, and the tower was adequate; except that it wasn't a _House_.The bunks were fine and comfortable enough and it was great that his was set next to Richard's, but it didn't feel like home. It felt like being on a vacation or in a resort somewhere. He wanted to be sorted into a house; it just wasn't right otherwise.

On one level he knew it shouldn't bother him, but it still did. How Richard was able to sleep so quickly and soundly was a total mystery to Adam; the best he could guess was that it was because he was coming in without much real knowledge of how things were done in the wizarding world. Starting school without a House was a terrible idea far as Adam was concerned; it was disorganized and improper.

"Hey!" a voice in the dark whisper- yelled. "Who else is awake right now?"

"I am." Another voice replied. "Who is that?"

"I'm Lawrence Wilkes." The first voice said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tim Solberg," the second voice replied. "Am I the only one here that thinks it's wrong to keep us out of the Houses for a year?"

"Absolutely not," Wilkes answered. "We're being discriminated against for no reason other than just starting out. Where's the justice in that?"

"I agree." Solberg said. "The question is what can any of us do about it?"

"For starters, my father will be hearing about this." Wilkes declared. "The Headmistress is continuing the same kind of pattern that Old Dumbledore did back in the old days. I bet you heard how disastrous that turned out."

Solberg chuckled knowingly. "Who hasn't?" He replied. "Do you think your dad can do anything? Is he in a position to prevent a repeat of the same mistakes being made?"

"It's possible," Wilkes answered.

"Good; that's good." Solberg said.

Adam was about to open his mouth and speak up, to say that if it wasn't for Dumbledore the Dark Lord would have won. Things would be a lot different if Dumbledore didn't do things the way he did. Then he bit down on his tongue; it occurred to him that these two- Wilkes and Solberg – might be daft enough to think that the Dark Lord was right. His Mum and Dad told him that there may still be people that thought that way, and that was why Aurors were still necessary. They even went so far as to say that just because the Dark Lord was destroyed, that didn't mean darkness was finished. Was he seeing – or rather hearing – darkness coming up once again? He agreed that it was wrong to put off the Sorting, but not for any of the reasons Wilkes and Solberg were talking about.

Of course, they didn't actually say anything that outright spoke in favour of dark magic. Still, Adam found it unnerving the manner in which they did speak. Now he had a whole new reason to lose sleep.


	5. Chapter 5 Classes

1

The first couple of months of classes were a nightmare for Daisy. It always seemed she was somehow behind the curve; like Rachael, Adam, and especially Richard were always miles ahead of her in everything. Even Philip seemed to be getting it a lot quicker than she was. The only exception was flying classes; in that Daisy proved to be quite exceptional right from the start.

Charms class was okay, too; everyone except Richard took a few tries to get the levitation charm right. There were several rather funny results from loads of early efforts on that one, so it didn't much bother Daisy that she was the last one to get it right; she still managed it before the end of class, and at least her efforts didn't ever prove nearly disastrous. Not like Vanessa York, who's feather literally exploded, or Philip's, which at one point shot straight up to the ceiling of the classroom and stuck into the tiles with an audible _thunk_ sound like a dart into a dartboard. Rachael also got a dart effect, but her feather shot out towards poor Professor Flitwick, who, standing on stack of books, had to use a shielding charm to deflect it. Somehow, Adam managed to levitate Flitwick himself; clearly needed to work on targeting his charms. Only Richard got it on the first go, earning himself ten credits towards his future house. Still, it was a little embarrassing when she was the last one that had not yet been successful.

"I think it might be your wand's core." Adam commented. "Pegasus cares tend to stubborn at first, but incredibly loyal after. There's also an interesting rumor about Pegasus wands; that once the relationship between the wand and the witch is established, the wand will always find its way back to its original user until one or the other is either broken or dead."

"Thanks, Adam, but that bit of insight isn't really helping much, is it?" Daisy shot back, quickly regretting her temper when she saw the hurt look on his face. "Sorry." She said quickly.

By then the whole class was watching. Even Albus, who was second to last to get it, had congregated to her desk. Scorpius had earned five credits for helping Albus master the charm. One of the boys named Lawrence Wilkes and that girl called Diane Hodges were snickering at her difficulties. Vanessa whispered something to another boy called Tim Solberg who only barely managed to keep from bursting out in laughter.

"I'm sure you can get it, Daisy." Rachael encouraged. "Never mind any of them. Just try again."

Daisy took a deep breath and held it. With all the concentration she could muster, she gritted her teeth, made the swish and flick motion as Flitwick told them and said the words " _Wingardium Leviosa._ "

Nothing happened.

Lawrence, Tim, Vanessa and Diane all scoffed audibly.

"What worked for me," Richard offered, "was not trying so hard. I know it sounds nuts, but seriously. Instead trying to force the feather to float, let the magic happen. Relax a little, and do the swish and flick thing a little more gently."

Having nothing to lose, Daisy tried Richard's approach. Finally the feather lifted off the desk and floated in mid air just like her stuffed lion back at home.

"Wonderful work, Daisy," Professor Flitwick squeaked. "And thank you Richard and Rachael for showing support and help. Five more credits to Richard Gavin, and five credits to Rachael North for good character."

Other than flying, the rest of the classes were similarly challenging, and the basic trend consistently seemed to be the same; Richard, who was the very youngest student in their year, almost always seemed to be miles ahead of everybody else in almost everything, especially Astronomy. The only exceptions were Potions class and Defense against the Dark Arts class. Adam took the lead in Potions, and though Richard was excellent at theory in DADA, Rachael was clearly the best in practical lessons. Since Professor Bones was focusing mostly on theory for the first years in DADA, it worked out Rachael and Richard was about even there. As it would work out, Defense classes were Daisy's absolute worst.

2

Right from the start, school was great! Adam and Rachael are awesome friends, and even Daisy is starting to warm up to me a little. I suppose that's because I helped her out with mastering the levitation charm. I think she was a bit put off by me at first mostly because Rachael and I get along so well.

With a few friends, and then there's Rene, who's like, super cool, I can even handle the fact that I might not be the most popular kid in class. I'm used to that, in fact. Although what is new is that I'm friends with the guy who seems to be the most popular kid in class; that would be Adam. Sure, there's a few folks that will probably be a problem; Adam already has an idea who some of them are likely to be. In fact, he clued into that the first night and mentioned it at breakfast the next morning.

"I'd watch out for those two, if I were you," he said nudging his head slightly towards the opposite end of the table to indicate Tim Solberg and Lawrence Wilkes. Solberg had very soft features and fine brown hair, and Wilkes was chiseled featured, deeply tanned, and had short black hair combed neatly with a perfect parting to the left side. "I reckon they'll be trouble before long."

"Why do you say that?" Asked Philip, wiping his mouth quickly as Daisy came into the dining room dressed in sweats instead of her robes. She sat down beside Rachael, which placed her across from Adam, and promptly helped herself to a glass of orange juice.

"Hey, Daisy, what's with the sweats? Why aren't you in your robes?" Rachael asked.

"Yeah, and you're all sweaty." Adam added.

"I went for a morning run." Daisy replied. "It's a good way to warm up."

I couldn't argue with her logic; it's proven that exercise is a good way to start the day. It gets the body all warmed up and ready move. That also means the brain gets a pick me up. Philip seemed to think it was a good idea, too; he asked what she had to wake up for that, because he thought he might want to go for a run, too.

"I mean, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" he added hastily, "I could probably use it to get in shape, right?"

Daisy glanced at him from over her shoulder thoughtfully. "Yeah, OK," she said. "We can give that a go. If you really think you can keep up, I wake up an hour before breakfast. We can meet in the Common Room."

"That would be brilliant!" Philip said happily.

"You three can join in, too, you know." Daisy said to Adam, me and Rachael- she was mostly inviting Rachael, that much was clear.

"Thanks, but I think I'll take the extra hour of sleep." Rachael answered, not unkindly. I had to admit; as good an idea a morning jog was, I liked to get my sleep. Adam also politely declined- yawning.

"So Adam, you were about to tell us why you think Solberg and Wilkes might be trouble?" I prompted.

"Oh, right!" Adam exclaimed. "So last night I couldn't sleep, right? And anyway, those two were up late, too. They got to talking, and they said some pretty awful things about Dumbledore and McGonagall. It was almost like they would have been happier if you know who won all those years ago."

"You're joking!" I said. "They didn't say anything like that; nobody would want Voldemort to win." The others hearing the conversation cringed at the sound of his name. That puzzled me a bit; Old Voldy was completely defeated twenty years ago. Maybe it's just a reflex, or a learned behavior.

"Well I didn't say they said it outright, did I?" Adam retorted. "I just meant it sounded like they may have Dark leanings."

"Maybe he's right, Richard." Rachael said. "Just because the Dark Lord...sorry, I mean V-Voldemort is gone doesn't mean that Dark Magic no longer exists."

She had a point. If Dark Magic was gone, then Aurors would be obsolete, and my own dad might still be alive. We wouldn't have Defense classes.

"You know who else I'd want to watch out for?" Daisy added darkly, "Those two over there; Vanessa York and Diane Hodges." Rachael nodded in agreement. "They might not be dark, but they're definitely bossy little..."

Philip made a shushing noise as Professor Bones wandered by the first year dining table. He didn't have to explain himself; that kind of language is generally discouraged, apparently even in Magic Schools.

"So what was that you were writing earlier, Rachael?" I asked.

"Oh, it's just a letter to my parents." She answered. It sounded to me like she was writing it more out of obligation than desire. I sort of understood; some kids act like they don't like their parents for some reason, but I bet by the end of the year she'll miss them.

Anyways, after eating more than I ever saw a girl eat, Daisy got up and left the table, saying she had to get into her robes before classes."

"Hey, Dursley!" Hodges shouted across the hall as Daisy left. "Next time try getting dressed before breakfast, yeah? Nobody wants to see your jammies while they're eating!"

"Yeah, and for your information there's this thing called a bath!" York followed up. "You might consider taking one once in awhile, okay? It might bring down your stink!"

These comments brought out some laughter from the other students in the Hall; amongst them Wilkes and Solberg. Both were terrible things to say, but now at least we had some idea which kids were nice and which were going to be jerks.

Well, it was after that breakfast that our classes began; starting with that Charms class where I helped Daisy with the Levitation Charm. That scored me extra credits even after being the first one in class to get it. In fact, other than flying, which I was absolutely dreadful at, I'd racked up credits like crazy. Daisy is the star when it comes to flying, and Adam is boss of potions.

We know that from our first class with Slughorn, where just for fun – says Slughorn- we made an attempt at a simple sleeping draught. Personally, I think it was his way of gauging where we all were and what he'd have to work with. It was pretty clever, if you think about it.

I will say this for old Sulggy; he's a really good teacher. Even with some of the colossal blunders a lot of the students made on that first class he never once lost patience or even seemed to get even remotely angry. If anything, it was like he basically expected our first efforts to go more or less the way they did.

Almost nobody got the draught quite right. Daisy's foamed up into a great sudsy mess like laundry soap in a fountain, except it was a violent shade of green. Rachael actually got it pretty close, according to Slughorn; he nodded at her effort appreciatively. Scorpius did about as well as Rachael, and Albus as well as Philip got a completely inert liquid; Albus's looked a little bit like lime juice, and Philip's more like lemonade. Tim Solberg got a comment saying his was passable, and Wilkes' concoction became a billowing black smoke that smelled of burnt almonds.

Without a word Slughorn snapped his wand and made that mess vanish. Moving on, the inside of Diane Hodges' cauldron lit up in flames, and Vanessa York created a rather epic explosion –even bigger than her attempts at levitation. (I'm starting to think that's going to be a trend with her).

""And now we get to see what young Mister Gavin has for us!" the Potions Master exclaimed, happily at first until he took a look at my effort, at which point he frowned discerningly. "Now that can't be right," he commented. "The coloration is all wrong. Tell me, Richard, what direction do the instructions indicate you are supposed to stir this particular brew?"

"Clockwise," I answered after referring to the directions. That was when I realized my mistake; I must have stirred counter-clockwise.

"Indeed they do," Slughorn agreed gently. "By reversing the stir, what you've created is a highly potent stimulant, dear boy. It could even prove disastrous should anyone happen to consume it, if they happen to be in poor health."

I groaned with embarrassment as several of my classmates, Solberg loudest among them, began to laugh. The twins, Oliver and Olivia, were at least polite enough to stifle their laughter.

"Not to worry, dear boy, not to worry." Slughorn then said encouragingly as he snapped his wand again, making my stimulant vanish as if it never existed. "It's an honest enough mistake to make your first time out. But this does remind me of your homework, class. I expect to see two feet of parchment on the importance of reading and following instructions precisely on my desk on or before our next class together."

I wanted to say that I did read the instructions, it's just my sense of direction is deplorable, but then decided the point was moot. I would just have to be more careful from that point on.

Finally Slughorn got to Adam. When he looked at Adam's effort, he actually did a double take. Then he leaned in closely, fanned his hand above the gently wafting steam coming from the cauldron, and took a light breath.

The Potions Master smiled warmly. "I see you take after your father, Adam." He said with good cheer. "I dare say this draught is perfect! I'm pleased to say I see a bright future for you in my classes, my good young man! Twenty Credits for Adam Macmillan towards his House when he is sorted."

So that was more or less the way classes went for the first two months or so of school. I wouldn't be too surprised if most people thought Astronomy was my favorite class, what with the enthusiasm I show in it. Don't get me wrong, Astronomy has always been something I've been keen about; and the fact it's a late night class is always an excellent bonus, but really the class I like best is transfiguration. Once again it's just something I do really well at. The only one who seems to come close to me in Transfiguration is that Wilkes guy, and Solberg is almost as talented in Astronomy. As far as I can tell, nobody is ever too excited about History of Magic; even I find Professor Binn's class a real snooze fest. What's worse, the ghost of Binns never seems to get anybody's name right; he insists on calling me Garvin, Adam McLellan, Daisy Dudley (which I suppose is close given her father's first name), that sort of thing. The only one he seems to get nearly right is Rachael, whom he addresses by her mother's maiden name, which is Parkinson. Rachael cringes at the name, but hey, what can we do?

3

 _From the Diary of Rachael Truth North_

Well, it's really official now; Richard is, overall, hands down, the best student of our year. I think he might have already acquired more credits than some of the older students have points. To be fair, a lot of the first year has been mostly theory stuff, so we'll see just how well he does once we get to more practical lessons. Somehow I suspect he'll excel there as well. Sure, he botched his first potion and needed the most practice at flying, but in pretty much everything else he's just killing it like it's nothing at all. It's actually kind of exciting to watch.

God, I sound like a girl with some kind of crush. I don't, by the way, I'm just stating the fact.

Now, even more than when we got here, the click thing among the students has really become crystal clear. There is, of course, Me, Richard, Daisy, and Adam. Daisy also has Philip Knox; he actually goes to the trouble to wake up and join her on her runs around the lake three days a week. Most of the time, he comes staggering in looking like he's about to die at the breakfast table after the runs. Daisy actually runs every day except after Astronomy class. Adam often brings Indigo Alders along, unless she's hanging out with Naomi Chan and Dennis Venport. There's also Kyle Delaney, who often lingers around Adam but treats the rest of us like dirt. Actually, I might as well point out that Adam is basically the most liked kid in our class. Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy are thick as thieves. They're almost as exclusive with each other as the twins Oliver and Olivia Beach are. Vanessa York has taken to Lawrence Wilkes, apparently, and both of them seem to have joined up with Tim Solberg and Diane Hodges.

Before I forget, Adam is the current prince of Potions. Daisy is having a hell of a time with most classes, though she is getting better with Potions and Herbology, and she is like Top Gun when it comes to flying. Richard has helped Daisy by suggesting she more let her wand do its thing rather than trying to impose her will on it. Adam is sure her difficulties will pass once her wand gets 'trained'. He says Pegasus Wands are always stubborn, but incredibly loyal. Based on her improvement in non-wand subjects I think he might be on to something. Mostly I've just been trying my best to encourage her success and reminding her that we are all having some trouble with some things. What can I say? I'm not a teacher type.

Well, enough of that, I guess.

This morning, during breakfast, Hagrid and Rene came in looking like they got into something harsh. When Daisy and Philip came in from their run, they said they overheard them say something about whatever it is in the Forest. Richard was willing to bet that it had to do with whatever is up with the part that's roped off. He's probably right. Philip mentioned they were nursing a unicorn at the edge of the forest near Hagrid's hut. Nearby, Albus and Scorpius were talking about something; it looked like they were planning some kind of highjinx. Rose Weasley butting into their discussion and told them they were mad, a little louder than she needed to.

Anyways, I had to mention that I was curious. I suggested we try to figure out a way to go look into what's out there. Adam looked at me like I had just lost my mind. He reminded us that we were specifically told not to go out into the forest and especially nowhere near the roped off section. Daisy asked him if he was scared, to which Adam replied that wasn't it at all; he just respected the rules. It was clear to me that Daisy was into checking it out. Richard, meanwhile, was silent; he was thinking. Adam and Daisy got into a bit of a tiff over the idea. Finally, Richard said the big problem would be getting out there unnoticed by the staff. My guess was that he was in favor. Adam was incredulous, but finally relented to the notion that ought to just look; he was a _little_ curious, after all. So next we had to work out getting past the staff without raising suspicion.

That was when two things happened. First there was the post coming in. Richard got some stuff for his birthday (his birthday is tomorrow) from his mom. I guess she sent it early because she wasn't sure how long post would take overseas. He also got a copy of the Daily Prophet with a letter attached at the same time I got my copy. I get a copy free because of my dad. The letter attached to his is a letter telling him he has a years' subscription for free; and a message that reads 'Happy Birthday, from Rachael'. A lot of other students got letters and copies of one paper, magazine, or another. At about the same time, a house elf appeared at the table and handed Daisy, Richard, Adam and me an orange and black envelope, the front of it printed with a face like a jack o' lantern. Similar envelopes were being handed to each of the other tables, too. Inside the envelope was a card, similarly decorated. The message in the card read:

 _Greetings, Rachael!_  
 _As I am sure you are well aware, tomorrow is a rather special day. That day, of course, is Halloween. I imagine there is no need to lecture you as to what makes the day so significant in our community, so I will spare you that rather long and redundant explanation. This card is simply an invitation. I am having a small get together – a party, you might say – in my office tomorrow night after the Halloween Feast. I would be honored if you could attend. You simply need to raise the card to indicate your intention to appear; I will see it from my table._  
 _Warmest regards, Horace Slughorn._  
 _Post Script: No need to worry about Curfew. I have made all the necessary arrangements with the Headmistress. Sadly, the allowance for first year students is exclusive; first year students are not permitted guests._

Smiling, I raised my card. From the staff table, Slughorn smiled back. Daisy raised hers next, commenting how perfect it was. Richard was next, and finally Adam. It was perfect; now we had a reason to be out of our dorms tomorrow night. If staff noticed we were out past curfew, they would assume we were at Slughorn's party. That left the issue of Mr. Filch; there was a chance he would catch us out in the halls or grounds and not in Slughorn's office. Daisy said she might have an answer for that, too. Later on, she showed me what she meant; she had a small jar of pills she picked up from the Weasley shop on Diagon Alley called U-Go-Poo. Apparently it's a super-laxative. That should work; if Filch is stuck on the toilet, he can't be patrolling. The problem is getting him a dose. The best way I could think of was spiking his after dinner tea which he has delivered to his office. Then Daisy thought of an elf called Kreature. Apparently he is in the employ of Her Uncle Harry, but works here at Hogwarts; in fact he was the elf that presented her letter from Slughorn to her. If he could be convinced to deliver Filch the spiked tea, maybe he could also be convinced it would be a funny prank. That's certainly an option; another would be to convince Peeves. I'm thinking we could point out that with Mr. Filch out of the way; he has an open field to do as he will. We could even offer him the benefit of taking credit for the prank.

I should also write a letter to mom and dad; first to thank them for setting up the free subscription for Richard. I should say that I managed to convince them by suggesting that he's really very bright and has the potential to be a massively powerful wizard that Slytherin House needs, even if he is a half-blood. Second thing I should write them about is a bit of a brag how I've been invited to Slughorn's Halloween Party; which is practically like saying I am officially part of the Slug Club. I'm sure they'll both be pleased with the prestige that comes with that. I won't say that I'm going to the party; that runs the risk of me getting caught in a lie. Instead, I'm hoping, just the fact that I'm bragging will suggest that I'm going. I should be able to get away with just letting the assumption carry me through.

Anyway, it's getting late, and I'm getting tired. I'll write the letter to my parents and turn in for the night. Maybe Adam will let me borrow Isis tomorrow morning. That reminds me, I also need to figure out where Wilbur went.

4

The semester was mostly going well for Adam. Other than Potions, he wasn't doing as well as Richard, but he was definitely in top-tier of the year, and was overall well respected amongst his peers and the professors. Best thing yet was the invitation given him from Professor Slughorn. There was a part of him that thought it was a little bit low of the Potions Master to pick favorites as he does, but he also enjoyed the fact that he was selected; it had a way of validating his efforts. Not only all of that, but he was even making friends like crazy. Richard, Daisy, and Rachael were all great, but there was just something about Indigo Alders that made her special; was this falling for her? Adam thought so.

So far, the only hitch was the caper that Rachael, Daisy, and Richard were planning. Adam didn't like it very much; it wasn't so much that he was scared to go into the forest, or that he wasn't curious what was out there, it was that he was loath to break the rules; rules were important and were designed for their benefit and should be followed. If he was afraid, it was that he was afraid of being caught and then getting in trouble. Actions and choices had consequences, his dad told him. Unofficially, he'd agreed to be in on the late night exploration Halloween night. Unofficially, he was having doubts; loads of them. He was just trying to find a way out of it without either snitching his friends out or losing their respect. The dilemma was in fact distracting him from his classes.

"You seem off your usual game, Adam." Kyle said to him during Herbology class. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing." Adam replied. "I'll be alright, thanks."

"It doesn't have anything to do with those three, does it?" Kyle pressed on, tilting his head towards Richard, Rachael, and Daisy. "It wouldn't surprise me, you know. Those three are absolutely no good for you; you'd be better off steering clear of them."

"But..."

"Please, just hear me out." Kyle insisted. "School has barely started, and already they're looking to fly in the face of the rules. Yeah, I overheard what you guys were talking about. If I were you, I'd just tell them no and then go on ahead to the Slug Club Party. It would be much better for your future that way. I mean, think about it. You can have just about any set of friends you want, right? There's me, for example, and Indigo is alright, I guess. Dennis is a good guy, too."

For a moment, Adam glanced sideways at his friends uncertainly, then over at Indigo; which always made him smile. That was when the idea came to him. It was perfect; there was a way he could go to the Slug Club party and still be doing the right thing by his friends.

"You know what? You're right, Kyle. I should go to the party." Adam said. "Thanks."

His head cleared up, Adam breezed through the rest of Herbology and got through yet another sleep inducing lecture with Binns in History before lunch. For once, he was almost glad to be in History class; it gave him time to work out how he was going to present his idea to the others without sounding like he was totally chickening out.

"You have got to be kidding!" Daisy exclaimed, just a little too loudly, prompting Rachael to quiet her down with a downward wave. "I can't believe what we're hearing. You're actually backing out?"

"No. I'm not." Adam insisted, meaning both that he wasn't kidding and that he wasn't backing out. "I'm serious. Think about it; if at least one of is at the party, then that one can cover for the others. He can make up some reason why the others aren't around if anyone else asks."

"That's rubbish." Daisy countered.

"Actually, it's perfect." Rachael commented. "It never hurts to have all the angles covered. Good thinking, Adam."

"Brilliant; I mean, thank you." Adam replied. "I volunteer myself to provide cover."

"Fine" Daisy grumbled, adding something not quite discernible. Not that it mattered; at least now he was still part of the caper without actually breaking any of the rules. He was playing straight and right.

Finally, Richard looked up from an astronomy book he brought with him to lunch. Strictly speaking, they weren't supposed to have books at the mealtime table, but this wasn't a library book or a school book; it was one that he got as a birthday gift from his Mum. He said it was an astronomy calendar.

"I think I know just what you can tell them if they ask, Adam." He said. "It says right here that the asteroid Wormwood will passing through our system tomorrow night. We should be able to see it from the Astronomy tower with our telescopes at ten pm for about an hour. If you're asked, you can say that I talked Daisy and Rachael into checking it out. I'm willing to bet five galleons that Professor Slughorn would be fine with that in the interest of academic curiosity."

Rachael lit up. "That's perfect!" she said excitedly. "That would even give us some time to show up for real, this way we're seen anyway, and maybe even get legitimate permission to go up there."

"Won't that make it worse if you get caught?" Adam challenged. "Not only would you be breaking the rules, but you'd be telling a lie to a professor."

"You'd be lying anyway." Daisy retorted.

Adam said nothing. He had no counterpoint to that.

"You know what?" Richard interjected. "How about this?" he turned to Adam. "Maybe you're right. Maybe we shouldn't do this. Maybe we all should just go to the party and let the adults handle whatever is out there; it's probably safer that way."

"What?" Daisy piped up, incredulous. Rachael shushed her gently. Adam guessed what Richard was doing, but played along by thanking him.

"With that said, I really would like to see Wormwood; it hasn't been this close in over a century." Richard finished.

Daisy suddenly realized what Richard just did and grinned.

Adam knew full well that Richard had no intention of going to the Astronomy Tower to see a flying rock in space tomorrow night. Strictly speaking, if he were to say that was where Richard, Daisy, and Rachael went to, he'd be lying. But he could honestly say that that was where they said they were going; especially if they said so after making some face time in Professor Slughorn's office after the Halloween Feast. There was even a chance one of them might get the chance to say so to the Potions Master directly.

With that mess settled, they finished their lunch, had a free period, in which Richard went to the Library to go over his Potions homework and edit it. Adam, Rachael, and Daisy went back to the First Year Common Room, at which point Daisy pulled Albus Potter aside and handed off a small jar, a sight which clearly caused a great deal of dismay from Rose Weasley. In fact, Rose even stormed out of the Tower to remove herself from the situation.

After free period, they had Transfiguration with Professor Corner, A Ravenclaw who was also a member of the now legendary Dumbledore's Army. That day was a practical lesson; they were supposed to change sticks that were about seven inches long into working quills. Professor Corner showed them the wand movement and incantation ( _"stylos_ ", pronounced " _stee-los_ "), and then had the students go ahead and try. As usual, Richard got it on the very first go; earning himself twenty credits. Adam had an idea that whichever House he got sorted into was going to win the House Cup this year. Rachael and Adam both got it after a few tries, Philip Knox had some trouble at first, but got it eventually. Indigo Alders missed it the first time, but managed to correct her wand movement and got it on the second go. Several of the other students like Dennis Venport, Kyle Delaney, Ariya Casewell, and Hodges, York, Wilkes, and Solberg seemed to be completely defeated by this particular spell until almost the end of the class. Daisy botched it entirely on one of her attempts: She used the incantation " _Steel- us_ " which turned the stick into a small steel rod.

"Words are important, Miss Dursley," Professor Corner said dryly as he passed by her desk. "Your homework is to practice. Be sure to get the wording right. It's _stee-los_."

"Yes, professor," Daisy replied, dejected as she held up her little steel rod, scowling at it.

Then the class bell rang, ending the day's classes.


	6. Chapter 6 Halloween

Halloween

1

During the free period yesterday, Daisy convinced Albus to talk the elf Kreature into dosing Filch's evening tea. She figured that the ancient elf would be more receptive to his master's son than he would to his niece. As it turned out, Albus and Scorpius were planning some caper of some kind as well, so getting Filch out of the way served them as well.

Now, during her morning run, she was wondering how Albus was going to manage it. It was probably better if she didn't actually know, but that didn't stop her from wondering. She was running by herself today; Philip had decided to sleep in. That was just as well; that meant she could really let herself go full tilt. That wasn't to say she didn't like Philip or enjoy his company, but he was limited in what he could do physically. After her run, she took a shower before breakfast. By the time she got down to the Hall to eat, Richard and Rachael had gotten their copies of the Daily Prophet and they were reading them.

"How is this even possible?" Rachael asked, not looking up from her paper.

"Are you reading the Harker Institute thing?" Richard asked. "The article that your dad wrote?"

"Oh, those people," Adam commented. "They're causing a lot of trouble; Mum and Dad say that St. Mungo's is getting packed because of them."

Daisy growled quietly under her breath. Once again she found herself behind the curve; she had no idea what they were talking about. She asked who the Harker Institute were.

"They're an institute of technology that somehow got wind of the Statute of Secrecy." Adam told her. "Then they got all religious and began coming up with ways to track us, hunt us, and try to kill us if they can. So far, that hasn't happened, but some of their gear and weapons can detect us, counter our magic and hurt us quite badly."

"Actually," Richard interjected, "According to this, the Institute got their first kill last night; look." He dropped his copy of The Prophet onto the table, showing the front page. The main Headline read:

 **HARKER'S FIRST KILL CONFIRMED** by Rigel T. North

"But why would they do that?" Daisy asked. "I mean, I get that some witches and wizards might be bad, but why would they want us all dead?"

"According to dad," Rachael offered, "it's all religious zeal pure and simple. They have this idea that all magic is the work of the devil."

Daisy opted not to point out how insane that idea was; it seemed pointless. Also, there was the fact that she already had an idea how some Muggles were when they encountered anything they thought of as being 'not normal'. Her Gran and Granddad were perfect examples of that. In a way, she felt a little bad for Dad; growing up indoctrinated with so much dogma. Really, she felt like she should maybe give him some credit for overcoming that kind of conditioning. She looked over the article, trying to find the name of the victim. There was the picture, of course; a moving image of a witch appraising a broom, then looking up at the camera with a nod of approval. She had strange eyes.

"Who is she, anyway?" She asked finally.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Professor McGonagall called out, standing up at the staff table. The room fell silent. "As many of might already know, the Harker Institute has claimed their first fatality. Last night, our very own former flight instructor Madame Hooch was taken from us; both this school and our community. She was a good friend, an exceptional teacher, and her contributions of instruction of teaching several of your parents and even some of the older students in this room will not be forgotten. I would ask that we all take a moment of silence to honor our fallen colleague and friend."

The room did indeed remain silent for a moment; most heads bowed down, including Mister Oliver Wood, the current flying instructor and usual Quidditch Referee. The look on his face told her all she needed to know; she was probably his teacher as well as his predecessor. Given that he had apparently had a fair amount of success as a Quidditch Keeper after graduation, which said a lot about this Madame Hooch.

"Thank you." The Headmistress said finally before taking her seat back.

That was when Daisy remembered something; yes it was Halloween, but it was also Richard's birthday. She stole a glance over at Albus, who gave her a curt nod. She mouthed the word thanks just as Richard responded to a light tugging on his robe.

"Kreacher begs your pardon, sir," an ancient elf said once Richard gave him his attention. "Kreacher has been asked by Harry Potter's niece to make Young Richard Gavin these muffins in celebration of his birthday." Kreacher then held up a tray of muffins, presenting them to Richard. Richard took them graciously and thanked Kreacher.

"Happy Birthday," Daisy said.

"Thanks, Daisy." Richard said back, looking over the muffins. "How did you know that chocolate chip and banana are my favorite?"

"That was a lucky guess." Daisy and Rachael said together.

"There's an enchantment on them, sir." Kreacher added. "They will always be warm when you wish to eat them. That was Kreacher's idea, sir."

"That's brilliant! Thanks for being so thoughtful." Richard told Kreacher, much to the elf's delight. With a pleased smile the elf vanished. That was when Adam produced a package and presented it to Richard. Richard opened it and took out what looked to Daisy like a miniature periscope; like what someone might find on a submarine, but with a glass dome on one end.

"It's a panascope." Adam explained. "It's like a telescope, but it allows you to see the whole sky in a panoramic view."

Richard thanked him and set the panascope aside. Then breakfast resumed without much more incidents until it was time for their first class of the day; which was Double Potions, to be followed by Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Potions with Slughorn went about as well as could be expected; in some ways Daisy was starting to feel like she was actually catching up with the rest of the class there. At least she hadn't any more disasters like she had in their first session with that Sleeping Draught experiment. It wasn't until DADA, which was still her worst subject that the day started to really go bad for her.

For the first year, Professor Bones was putting most of her focus on theory, but awarded the majority of credits during practical lessons. When it came to theory, Richard was basically king of the class, with Hodges following, and then Philip. When it came to the practical end of the class, it seemed that Rachael dominated. Wilkes, and then York did well as well. One of the practical lessons was on the Disarming Charm. Daisy remembered it well; Rachael mastered it in one go when everyone else had to try it at least two or three times. Even Wilkes and York didn't get it until the second go. The one interesting thing that did happen that day was when that Adam's theory was at least partially proven.

When the students paired up, it was Daisy and Rachael. Daisy tried first, and when she exclaimed " _expelliarmus!_ " a jet of red light shot from her wand and knocked Rachael on her bottom. In all fairness, she was a bit closer to getting it right than a few of the others. At any rate, Rachael got up, apparently unhurt and ready to give it a go herself. As cued by Professor Bones, Rachael gave the chant. A small stream of light shot out of her wand directly at Daisy's; forcing it to pop out of her hand. Then something unexpected happened; the wand hung suspended in the air for a second before it flipped once as if to correct itself and fell directly back into Daisy's hand. It was like it wanted to be with her; as if Ollivander was right about the wand choosing the witch and Adam was right about the lore saying a Pegasus wand will find itself back to its owner so long as both are alive and functional. Adam whispered something to that effect to Richard as Professor Bones awarded Rachael twenty credits for her success.

Today, Professor Bones was waiting in the front of the classroom in her black and yellow robes displaying the Hufflepuff crest as they came in and sat at their desks. Usually when she was waiting, it meant they were in store for a lecture; so the students promptly began to get out their books and quills.

"Oh, no, class; there's no need for your books and quills today, class." Professor Bones said cheerfully. "Today's lecture will be very brief, and I won't even be giving it; I have a special guest here for you all. He's a dear friend and I'm sure you all know him, at least by name. Class, please give a warm welcome to our guest today; Harry Potter."

She pointed at her office door, and Uncle Harry stepped out to a rousing round of applause and some cheers of delight. A quick glance around revealed to Daisy that only Wilkes and York seemed not to be thrilled to see him. She also saw that Uncle Harry, while being gracious enough about the greeting, did not seem to particularly enjoy all the attention. She had gotten that sense from him before; like all he really wanted now was to be treated like any other wizard who was only doing his job. That always struck her as a bit odd. Her dad, who was famous in his own right, reveled in being 'the Dynamo'. He was never bad about it, but it obvious he liked being famous. Even her Mum rather liked being recognized by pretty much everyone as Belladonna Dursley. They both liked the attention, though neither of them came off like they thought they were 'better' than anyone; other than perhaps whomever their next respective opponent was going to be, but even that was just part of the game, really.

"Hi," Uncle Harry said. For a moment he had an awkward grin on his face, like he wasn't quite sure what to say next. It wasn't like he'd never done these lectures as a guest speaker before, so Daisy guessed it was because his son and niece were watching him. "Erm, let me start by asking you what the purpose of this class is."

Several students raised their hands; nobody spoke out. Professor Bones made it clear early on that speaking out of turn would not be tolerated; Richard actually nearly lost credits in their first class for blurting out answers. Uncle Harry pointed at Marius Dylan.

"To learn how to fight evil," Dylan said.

Uncle Harry considered his response, and then pointed at Olivia Beach; who glanced at her twin brother for an instant before she said the purpose was to learn how to defend ourselves. Next he pointed at Adam, who said it was to prepare ourselves to counter darkness when we encounter it. Finally he pointed at Rachael, whose answer was basically the same as Adam's.

"Alright, that's enough of that for now." Uncle Harry said. The rest of the hands went down. Richard shifted a little in his seat, obviously disappointed that he did not get called on. Then Harry went on to talk about the Dark Arts as if they were a living thing; like a monster with several heads that constantly adapted and became ever more cunning and deadly, so we had to be constantly adapting ourselves to match it. The way Daisy heard it, he meant they had to be constantly perfecting their craft in order remain competitive against a dangerous opponent; it was like maintaining themselves in fighting form through practice, training, and exercise.

"So today, your Professor has graciously allowed me to show you a very basic defensive spell called the shielding charm. It's a simple enough charm, but the process of learning it can prove to be a touch messy on the first few go's. So for this practical lesson, we are going to head for the Great Hall, don't worry, your Headmistress has permitted this. Please, will all of you follow Professor Bones in an orderly fashion? Thank you."

"Isn't this brilliant?" Philip asked her. "We're actually getting taught something from Harry Potter; " _the chosen one!_ "

"Yeah, great," Daisy agreed, though she wasn't nearly as excited as most of the other students seemed to be.

"Hey, Dursley, you should cheer up a little, yeah?" Hodges called from nearby in line. "With your uncle teaching this one, you might actually get it right for once."

"He'll probably go easy on you and Albus because you're family," Wilkes added with a scoff

Scorpius shot Wilkes a glance, and Wilkes mocked concern at him.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Albus said just under his breath. "My brother James told me once that dad was harder on him than any of the other students because he expects us to be as good as he is, if not better."

"Well, somehow I doubt that," Rachael countered. "That would just be cruel and unrealistic."

"Not to mention unethical – either way!" Adam added. "I bet he treats us all the same so long as we try our best."

When they got to the Great Hall, Professor Bones waved her wand and moved all the tables and chairs up against the wall without a word, making a space in the middle of the Hall for them to practice once Uncle Harry has completed his lesson.

"Right," Uncle Harry began. "The shielding charm is just what it sounds like it is; it is a charm that can be used to shield you from attack. To use it, a simple incantation is used. So if all of you will put your wands away for a moment?" The students put their wands away.

"Great; now please repeat after me:"' _Protego!_ '"

The students repeated the word. Then Uncle Harry had them say it two more times to make sure they had it right. Finally he called for two volunteers to start with. Of the hands that went up, he chose Richard and Solberg. Uncle Harry gave instructions for one to attempt to disarm the other while the other used the shielding charm to deflect the effort.

Richard got to try the new charm first.

" _Expelliarmus!_ " Solberg cried.

"Proteg..." Richard started, but then his wand flew out of his hand. Tim Solberg stood before him with a satisfied grin.

"That was a great effort Richard." Uncle Harry said kindly. "With spells like this one, reflexes are important. Try that again."

They tried again, with a similar result. Harry advised Richard to not get discouraged; and then he told the class that the most important thing with defensive magic was to believe in yourself. Then they tried a third time, and this time Richard managed to deflect Tim's disarming attempt. Going the other way, Tim Solberg took four tries.

Richard, being a little bit cocky, gave Solberg a quick wink as if to say he got one over on him. Tim scowled at him.

In pairs, every student got an opportunity to give the charm a try, with Uncle Harry giving encouragement and advice as they went along. There were various results and levels of success. Both Adam and Dennis Venport got it in two tries. Indigo managed it in four, and Rose Weasley got it in two. Scorpius managed it in three, and Albus had considerable difficulty. The twins got it in five.

Finally, the last two up were Daisy and Rachael. First, it was Rachael having a go at shielding. Daisy took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down before going for the disarming charm; she was worried that she might misfire and hurt her friend.

" _Expelliarmus!_ " she cried.

" _Protego!_ " Rachael replied directly on top of Daisy's cry. The red stream from Daisy's wand was immediately deflected off to one side, falling to the floor harmlessly. Once again, Rachael got it on one go. There was a hushed murmur amongst the crowd.

"Excellent work, Rachael!" Professor Bones called out. "Ten credits towards your assigned House!"

"That's great work, Mrs North." Uncle Harry said; it may have been her imagination, but it sounded to Daisy like he was less than enthusiastic about it. Why would that be? Daisy had no idea. "Now switch. Daisy, you try to shield from Rachael's attempt."

Now Daisy was nearing panic. She was usually dreadful with wand spells; especially on her first attempts with new ones. To make matters worse, she desperately wanted to impress her Uncle.

" _Expelliarmus_!" Rachael cried.

" _Projecto_!" she blurted out, realizing her error even before the result of the incorrect incantation took root. The stream from Rachael's wand struck Daisy's wand and then scattered out in a starburst pattern, sending sparks to all the wands in the room. Immediately, everyone except Uncle Harry lost their wand, several of them clutching their wand hand and shouting out in a mix of shock and pain. Uncle Harry was able to shield himself wordlessly with relative ease.

And the bell to end class rang. Professor Bones dismissed the class, instructing both Daisy and Albus to practice both the disarming and shielding charm as homework. There was a brief intermission between Defense class and History, so several of the first years made their way either to the hospital wing if Daisy's botch hurt their hands or to the First Year Tower. Rachael, Richard, Adam and even Philip all offered to help Daisy on the way to the tower.

"Hey, Dursley," Hodges called out from behind her. "You must really be awful if even the famous Harry Potter can't teach you!" Her comment was met with a scattering of laughter, most loudly from York, Wilkes, and Solberg.

Philip whipped around. "Leave her be, Hodges!" he warned. Wilkes moved forward and growled at Philip, causing him to back down again.

"And isn't that special?"Hodges laughed scornfully. "Now you have your chubby boyfriend sticking up for you? Is that it? I thought you would be some kind of tough girl, what with your Mum and Dad being fighters. You really are totally pathetic."

Then Daisy saw red. Without warning, she whirled round and shot her right fist out, landing it square on Hodges's jaw. Hodges spun, dazed, and fell flat on her face. Daisy was dimly aware that someone, most likely Peeves the poltergeist shouting "FIGHT" over and over. It seemed like everyone was closing in on her all at once; she caught Vanessa York drawing her wand, and Daisy tucked down and swept her foot round to knock York off her feet. By then, Wilkes was rushing in, and before he could do anything at all she threw a left hand like a piston into his side, buckling his ribs and knocking the wind out of his sails. Once fully on her feet, she sensed someone attempting to grab her from behind. Without a thought, Daisy grabbed a soft arm (she was guessing it was Solberg) and whipped him over her back and shoulders so he fell onto his back in front of her. Still holding his arm, she lunged down hard with her fist towards his face...

...and stopped about a centimeter away from Philip's nose, recognizing his terrified face at the last possible instant.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Peeves cackled loudly and raced away while everyone else froze after looking up and seeing Headmistress McGonagall standing in the hall gazing at the mob reproachfully. Adam was hiding behind her. Letting go of Philip, Daisy stood and folded her arms over her chest defiantly. She knew was in for it and deserved to be for fighting like that; but in the moment she didn't care. Adam went and snitched on her. She might have expected Richard to do that, but it was Adam. Also coming to the scene were professors Bones, Longbottom, and Flitwick.

"I will not tolerate fisticuffs in my school, Miss Dursley." McGonagall said sternly. "You and Mister Knox will be coming with me and Professor Longbottom to my office immediately. Professor Flitwick, please see to it that the uninjured students get to their class. Professor Bones, please escort Mister Wilkes, Miss Hodges, and Miss York to the hospital wing, and then to class once they are cleared to do so."

Without another word, the Headmistress turned sharply and started in the direction of her office. Daisy and Philip followed, Daisy scowling at Adam as she passed; ignoring his apologetic look as she did so. When they finally got to the tower that her office was at the top of, Professor McGonagall uttered her password (Coffee Caramels), and the gargoyle at the entrance danced aside to reveal a staircase that lifted them up to the chamber where her office door was. She let them both in and took a seat at a large desk. Neither Daisy nor Philip took much notice of the decor or the extent of trinkets around them. For her part, Daisy could literally feel her defiance slip away from her heart; it sunk into her head that she might very well be facing expulsion. Professor Longbottom had followed them in, but remained standing near the door.

"Please, Professor," Daisy said. "Philip doesn't really deserve to be here like this. See, he was sticking up for me before the fight, and I think he might have been trying to stop me." She explained, believing that to be true. She just couldn't see Philip Knox having any intention other than that.

The Headmistress assessed Philip briefly, who was nodding his head yes ever so slightly. "Very well, Mister Knox; you may go to your class. However, even though your intentions may have been genuine, your actions were foolish. I remove ten credits from you and your prospective House."

"Yes, Professor," Philip said quietly as he left with his head down. Professor Longbottom let him pass with no trouble.

"As for you, Miss Dursley, I am appalled by your actions today." McGonagall said flatly. "I can understand your being frustrated with your in-class difficulties, but that is no reason to resort to violence in the hallways."

"I know, but that wasn't it!" Daisy blurted out. "It was Hodges; she's been on my case ever since school started. I've been putting up with her bad-mouthing me every day!"

"That may well be the case, and Miss Hodges will be dealt with accordingly, but that is still no excuse to go hitting people!" the Headmistress raised her voice just a notch; it was just enough to make Daisy fear the worst. "Your behavior today is arguably grounds for expulsion. But that isn't what is going to happen; not today. Instead, tonight you will be serving detention with Professor Longbottom; as I understand it, he has a small matter of gnomes in one of his greenhouses."

"Yes, Professor," Longbottom agreed.

"You will also be losing twenty five credits," she raised a hand to silence Daisy. "And be fortunate it is not more than that. "Professor Longbottom, will you please escort Miss Dursley to her class, and then go inform Professor Slughorn she will not be attending his gathering tonight?"

"Yes, Professor," Longbottom said agreeably. Then he waved Daisy through the door and down the stairs and towards Professor Binn's room for History of Magic class. Whatever energy Daisy built up during the fight was now completely sapped out of her; her heart felt heavy, and it was all she could do to pick up her feet as she walked, let alone hold her head up.

"Hey, when I see you tonight in greenhouse two, we'll talk some, alright?" Professor Longbottom offered kindly enough. Somehow Daisy got the impression he was not planning on ripping on her again as the Headmistress just had. It seemed like he was meaning to try to help her sort her feelings out or something. In a way, that made her feel a little better. She nodded yes and stepped into the classroom. Several of the students, bored out of their skulls glanced over at her as she entered. Professor Binns droned on with his lecture, apparently oblivious to the fact that she was late.

At lunch, Adam sat apart from the other three in favor of sitting with Indigo Alders and Kyle Delaney. Daisy noticed that Indigo looked over at her, Rachael and Richard with watery eyes like she was ready to start blubbing, and Kyle kind of glanced over with a smug look on his face like he just won something. Adam had angled himself so he could still watch the three of them, and when he caught Daisy's eye momentarily he mouthed an apology. Daisy just looked away. Deep in her heart she knew that Adam probably did the right thing technically, but it didn't feel that way right now. Given time to think, though, she wasn't surprised after all; Adam was big on following rules and doing things properly. She was still a little mad at him, but she could already feel her temper starting to wane somewhat.

When Rachael asked her what the damage was, it took a moment for Daisy to work out what she meant. When it hit her, she said she had detention that night and would not be able to go to the Slug Club thing because she'd be helping Professor Longbottom de-gnome one of the greenhouses. Also, she'd been docked twenty five credits. Philip was sitting near them as well, so she had to be careful not to mention the plans for their little expedition into the forest.

"Ouch!" Richard said quietly. "That has to sting!"

"Yeah, a bit," Daisy agreed.

"Well, there's one good thing," Rachael offered up, "I'm willing to bet York, Hodges, Wilkes and Solberg will think twice before beaking off at you anymore."

"No doubt," Richard said, grinning. "Now they know you can just knock them out without magic, right?"

Daisy smiled, and gave a little laugh. That did actually help her feel a little better looking at it that way. Then she got Philip's attention and apologized for going at him in that mess.

"It's alright," Philip said, gulping down some lemonade. "I should have known better than to try and grab someone from behind like that, anyway."

The rest of lunch went by without much incident other than Daisy noticing a look of distinct disappointment on Professor Slughorn's face, and Nova Connor making her way to where Richard was sitting and presenting him with a birthday gift. He opened it to find a book called _Love Signs: Scorpio_. Daisy noticed an expression of dismay on Rachael's face as she rolled her eyes while Richard awkwardly thanked Nova. Nova giggled and returned to where she was sitting. Richard set the book aside, and muttered that Astronomy and Astrology were two very different things. It seemed that Rachael, like Daisy, got the impression that Richard had little or no interest in the latter; her disposition improved drastically at that.

For Daisy, the rest of the day up until the Halloween feast dragged on as she got closer and closer to her detention time, even with Professor Longbottom's typically gentle approach, detention was detention and was never meant to be pleasant.

Finally, the time came and she found herself in the third Greenhouse with the head of Gryffindor House, getting ready for de-gnoming. The gnomes were a nasty little creature, not all like the statues in the garden back home. Professor Longbottom had supplied her with Dragon hide gloves for the task; the gnomes have been known to bite, he explained. As they were about to begin, she saw a large toad in the greenhouse with them. After a moment, she realized it was Wilbur, Rachael's toad.

"Oh, don't worry too much about him," Longbottom said, waving Wilbur off. "He's actually been very helpful." Then Wilbur shot his tongue out and snagged a gnome, dragging it back into his jaws and crunched it up and swallowed it. "I know it looks terrible, but you can't blame a toad for being a toad. It's all part of the cycle of life, isn't it?"

"I suppose," Daisy replied. In all honesty she wasn't bothered by the sight in the least. What did get to her was how big the toad had gotten since she last saw it. "I still think I ought to get him back to Rachael, though; she's been quite worried about him."

Longbottom nodded solemnly. "I had a runaway toad in school, too." He confided. "Very well, when you're done here, by all means take him back to your dormitory."

He then showed her the process of removing the gnomes from the garden; which was much more humane than just letting Wilbur pick them off one by one. For several minutes, they went about the business in silence.

"So, do you want to tell me what exactly happened?" Professor Longbottom asked while he was pulling a gnome out of the soil and dropping it into a deep ceramic pot as it kicked futilely.

"I lost my head, I guess." Daisy said. "You see, Hodges was digging into me, and then she started making fun of Philip's weight, and I had just had enough of her. I know what I did was wrong, but I just saw red and went off on her, and then York and Wilkes got involved, so I went off on them too." She didn't have to explain Philip's role; Longbottom was there in the Headmistress's office when she spoke up in defense of Philip.

"I see," said Longbottom thoughtfully. "When you say you'd had enough, it sounds to me like this has been going on from some time."

"Since the first day at school," Daisy replied. "She's always going off on me about how I'm useless at magic, and then York starts getting on me about my status as a...as a Muggle born, but she uses a...different word."

"I know the word you mean. That kind of language is unacceptable here." Longbottom said. "Everyone knows that blood status makes no difference. I know several Muggleborns that are among the best witches and wizards alive. Did you know that Hermione Granger is a Muggle born?"

Daisy did know that, of course. Hermione was one of Uncle Harry's best friends; besides, everyone knew that the 'brightest witch of her age' was Muggle born.

"But it's really Hodges that gets to me." Daisy protested.

"Why is that?"

"Because she's right!" she cried. "She's right and I just got sick of being reminded that I really am useless at almost everything!"

"You know what I think?" Longbottom said calmly, kindly, "I think that's straight rubbish. Loads of the staff says you started off rough, but have shown serious improvement and will catch up soon enough. You're doing well enough in my class, for example, and Professor Slughorn has indicated your progress in Potions has been completely adequate. Then of course there's Mr. Wood; he told us all that you are a phenomenal flyer – maybe the best he's seen since your Uncle."

"Oh, big deal," she countered, but already starting to feel a smile forming on her lips. "So I can fly well; I imagine that's easy enough for everyone with practice."

"You might be surprised." Longbottom replied. "There are plenty of great wizards and witches that are absolutely dreadful at flying. Also, I don't mind telling you that I was terrible at everything other than Herbology up until around my fifth year. It wasn't until Dumbledore's Army that I ever improved at anything at all; and I'm still awful when it comes to Potions."

"Is that true?"

Longbottom nodded. "The point is that we all have the things we're especially good at, especially at first. One of the best things I ever heard was that hard work is important, but what's even more important than that is believing in yourself. And even if that is hard to do, we have a number of resources to help all our students succeed."

Daisy didn't need to ask Professor Longbottom what he meant; he was of course referring to Mr. Defaustis, the Remedial Studies and Revisions Counselor – who also happened to be head of the first year tower. From what Daisy had heard around, he was actually very helpful as far as Revisions was concerned according to some of the older students; very discreet, too, apparently; which was a plus for students who didn't want it to be public knowledge they were struggling. Not that that was much of a worry for Daisy; the whole school probably knew how awful she was at magic. She also knew Richard thought the world of Rene Defaustis (Richard always used his first name; said that Rene would have it no other way). As for her, Daisy thought he seemed alright; a bit scrawny, maybe, but alright.

Before she even knew it, Detention was over. Overall, it wasn't such a terrible time, either. It was detention, and that was never exactly a good thing, but Longbottom turned what should have been seen only as a punishment into something that she could gain a bit of perspective. She wasn't completely sure she bought what Longbottom was trying to sell her, but it did make her feel a little better about herself. She gave the Herbology back the gloves, collected Wilbur the toad, and started back to the castle.

Wondering just how everything turned out –both with the Slug Club party and Rachael and Richard's little adventure – Daisy got about half way to the castle when a full on Murder of crows came blasting out high overhead from deep within the forest, squawking and cawing like Armageddon was at hand; it seemed to Daisy like they were headed for the First Year Tower. In fact, they were. Then Daisy remembered the nest on top of the tower; Richard had told Rachael, Adam, and her that Rene said it was a Corax nest, so the crows were probably telling the Corax something. Then, from somewhere in the forest behind Hagrid's hut, she could hear shouting; she could not make out words, but the voice was unmistakably Hagrid's.

That could only mean one thing; Rachael and Richard must be caught. The crows were telling the Corax that Hagrid found her friends in the forest. Daisy rushed towards the castle entrance and arrived there just as Professors McGonagall, Sinistra, and Flitwick were coming out.

"Hey, Professors," Daisy said as she got to the door, it was just then she decided to try a play. "What's going on?"

"I have in mind to ask you the same thing, Miss Dursley!" the Headmistress admonished. "We just got word that Mister Gavin and Miss North have gone out into the Forbidden Forest, and from the sound of it, Professors Bones and Hagrid have found them!"

"Would you know anything about this, Daisy?" Flitwick asked.

"Erm, what?" Daisy stammered, stalling to determine what she should say. "I mean, no, of course not! How could I? I was in detention with Professor Longbottom! Weren't Rachael and Richard at the Slug Club party?"

"Apparently, they asked to be excused to go up to the Astronomy tower to try out Richard's new Panascope and see the passing of Wormwood." Flitwick replied.

"I can assure you they are not there," Sinistra added. "I checked, and that was how I got word of their true expedition. And then I saw them with my own eyes."

Daisy was about to ask who gave the Astronomy Professor word, but then she got her answer. Behind the professors in the Entrance Hall, Tim Solberg was standing there, grinning that deceptively innocent looking grin of his on those soft features upon his oval-shaped face. If there was an egg-head in this world, it was Solberg. He was also a big Astronomy buff; he must have gotten legitimate permission from Sinistra to come up and observe Wormwood, and then happened to see Rachael and Richard sneaking off into the forest. Of course he would have to go and snitch them out; not even Adam would do that. Adam was big on following rules, but not malicious like Solberg, Wilkes, York or Hodges.

McGonagall regarded Daisy with a kind of scrutiny that made Daisy certain she could read her mind. Desperate to avoid getting into any more trouble than she already was, Daisy thought to herself over and over again: _I really thought they were at the party with Adam. I really thought they were at the party with Adam. I really thought they were at the party..._

"Very well, Miss Dursley." The Headmistress finally said. Daisy wasn't sure if McGonagall believed her or not. "You may go straight to your dormitory. No detours for any reason!" She warned.

With her head low, Daisy started off in the direction of the first year tower. She paused for a moment and looked back to see Hagrid and Professor Bones reach the entrance. Hagrid was carrying Richard, who seemed unharmed. There was no sign of Rachael. Daisy considered staying to find out what happened, but the look Richard gave her told her she was best to just go; he would tell her when he got to the tower.

So Daisy went back to the tower. Saying the password for access, she entered once the knights raised their spears and went into the common room where Adam was already waiting. Adam was quick to say it wasn't him that said anything this time, and Daisy said that she knew that; that it must have been Solberg. After that, the two of them waited in silence for Richard to show up. Meanwhile, the rest of the first years slept.

2

I gotta say; my birthday started off great, even with my mom on the other side of the world. I woke up quite early and realized that I was finally officially of age to actually be here at Hogwarts! On top of that there was of course the whole plan to go check out the roped off part of the forest to find out why the staff was so skittish about it; and what was going on with the unicorn that Hagrid and Rene were handling. The fact it was also Halloween made it all the better; going into the Forbidden Forest on Halloween! What could be spookier?

In the boys' dorm, I was the first one up. Even Philip, who sometimes got up early to join Daisy with her morning workout and run, was fast asleep. I'm not proud to admit this, but part of me keeps thinking up ways to make fun of him a little. I know it's mean to do that; he's trying to improve himself – even if it's for some harebrained reason like trying to impress Daisy. To make fun of him for that is something jerk-faced creeps like Solberg and Wilkes would do. To his credit, though, Philip's efforts were starting to pay off some. He was still chubby – no sense denying that – but now he wasn't as flabby. And also, he wasn't snoring nearly as loudly anymore.

After getting dressed I went down to the common room. On my down the stairs, I could hear Daisy's voice. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but I know I heard her talking. By the time I got all the way down, I heard a soft 'POP', and all I saw was Daisy stretching her legs; probably in preparation for her morning run.

"Good morning, Daisy!" I called out in greeting, startling her.

"OH!" she replied. "Good morning! Did you come down to join me today?"

"No thanks," I said, "I'm just up early is all. Were you just talking to someone?"

"Erm," Daisy stalled, as if trying to decide how to answer. "Yeah, actually, I was. It was Kreacher; I wanted to know if he was on board with our plot to dose Filch tonight."

"Right!" I said, nodding, remembering the plan to try to talk Harry Potter's ancient elf to help us with a prank on Filch as a means to get him out of the way tonight. "So, is he on board?"

"Yes, he is." Daisy answered. "Actually, he seems happy to do it; he doesn't much like Filch much, you see."

"That's good to know." I said. "Well, don't let me keep you; enjoy your run."

"Thanks," she said, "and happy birthday, by the way."

I thanked her as she hurried away.

It was a little early to go to breakfast then, so I waited around in the Common Room for awhile; perusing through a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ which somebody must have left behind. It was a more recent edition, so it was pretty up to date and included a lot about Harry Potter and his friends. There were annotations about several of those that survived the Battle of Hogwarts and talked about what they were doing now. There was, of course, Harry himself; The Boy Who Lived became an Auror and evidently played a role in training my dad. Then there was Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley – actually, several Weasleys got mentioned. Everybody that goes to Hogwarts knows about Professor Longbottom, of course; he teaches Herbology and is the current head of Gryffindor House. Seamus Finnegan, much to the surprise of everybody, moved to Canada with his partner Dean Thomas and became the Canadian Minister of Magic. He is also known to as 'the Most Diverse Minister in History'. Luna Lovegood is a famous Magizoologist, and Ginny Weasley-Potter became a famous Quidditch Chaser. What really struck me, though, was there was virtually no mention of any sign of post-war trauma in any of them; I can only guess that's because they, the survivors, don't talk about it much.

There was also some mention of the Death-Eaters of the time; among them is a scathing background on Lucius Malfoy and a slightly more forgiving account of his son Draco. I wonder; just how much stigma Scorpius has to deal with on a daily basis? It never really occurred to me before reading that. The name I kept coming back to for some reason was Bellatrix Lestrange. She died, of course, but for some reason she got stuck in my head more than any other that was mentioned.

Eventually, the other students started to come down and head out for breakfast. I joined up with Adam and Rachael (her mom, Pansy Parkinson, made the pages in the footnotes as a student who was sympathetic to the Death-Eaters). I guess it makes sense that Rachael usually avoids talking about her parents, especially her mom. Anyway, we got together and headed down to the Great Hall.

Rachael and I both got our copies of the Daily Prophet; her dad had a story that made the front page. Apparently a group of Muggles that call themselves the Harker Institute had been hunting and harassing wizards and witches- putting several in the hospital at 's. Well, according to Rigel, the Harkers finally killed someone; a witch named Hooch. I never met her, but apparently she taught here at Hogwarts; she was the flight instructor for several years. I had heard of her, obviously, and was aware that she even trained Oliver Wood, our current instructor. Like many of the students who had some form of news in front of them, Rachael and I were talking about the Harkers and the story.

Daisy came in from her run – all dressed in her robes and cleaned up, and we talked a bit more about Hooch and the Harker Institute. Then Headmistress McGonagall stood up and called for a moment of silence in memory of our fallen friend and former teacher, Madam Hooch.

Then some birthday stuff started happening. Kreacher appeared out of thin air to present me with a tray of muffins, saying that Daisy asked him to make them to wish me a happy birthday. He also said they were enchanted to always be warm whenever I want to eat them. They happened to be my favorite kind – chocolate chip banana – so I asked Daisy how she knew. Both Daisy and Rachael said it was just a lucky guess. After thanking Kreacher and Daisy, the elf vanished as quickly as he appeared. Then Adam gave me a panascope, which gave the user a panoramic view of the sky. That gave me an idea; I could bring that with me to Slughorn's party and use it as proof that I was hoping to go up to the Astronomy tower to follow the progress of Wormwood. It was brilliant.

Not much else really took place through the rest of breakfast, and we next went on to start on our classes. The day started with Double Potions with Slughorn, which was really a kind of a quiet session; there certainly were not any big mistakes made that day. I had taken some pretty extreme measures to ensure that I read and followed directions properly. There was no point in trying to mention that my error on that first day of classes had more to do with me having a tendency to get lost on one way streets than anything else, so I just took my lumps there as they came. Adam was still by far the best in potions; he just seemed to have a natural knack for it. Daisy still had some trouble, but she was catching up quite nicely; it seemed that was the trend with all classes that had little or nothing to do with wands or incantations. Also, I have to hand it to Daisy Dursley for one reason; she doesn't quit trying, and as much as some of the students rag on her, she keeps plugging away at it. The same students that bug her tend to get on me for being a show off, a know it all, or an egg-head (which is ironic since one of the biggest jerks of all, Tim Solberg, has a head that is literally shaped like an egg), but it was like that before I started at Hogwarts. I'm used to it.

Next class was Defense class. Professor Bones was mostly doing theory stuff for the first year, but we were learning a few simple spells, too. From what I heard the older kids say, she got into spells a lot more with second year students, and some of the third year students said the class got really cool; that as dull as it may seem at first, it's worth it. One time I asked Rene why there was so little practical teachings in first year defense, and he explained that it was most likely that Professor Bones was merely trying to make sure certain safety protocols were in place first; that she wanted to make sure that a proper mindset and sense of discipline was ingrained before getting into any serious defensive magic. He said it was not so long ago that it was through defense classes that many a wizard or witch got corrupted into the Dark Arts, and then he sort of cawed a laugh at the irony in that.

Anyways, as we were all accustomed to doing, we came into class and started to get out our quills and books. Evan as we were doing that, Professor Bones stopped us and told us we wouldn't need them today; the lecture would be very short and she wouldn't be giving it. Then she introduced a guest speaker/teacher for the day; it was the one and only Harry Potter.

As he came into the classroom from Bone's office, I was struck by a couple of things. First, how humble he came off, and how he genuinely seemed to want to wave off the rousing ovation he got – like he either didn't want the fame he had or honestly didn't see why he deserved it. That may have been an act, but if it was it was a good one. Second I noticed how nearly unanimous the approval of Harry was; even Wilkes and Solberg seemed impressed with The One Who Defeated You-Know-Who. The only one who seemed not to be pleased with seeing Harry in the class was Albus; he looked like he was just fed an earwax flavored jelly bean. I guess I can figure why; now he has to take a lesson from his own dad, which might mean that he'll either have higher expectations on him than usual, or will have to endure accusations of favoritism. He might even get both. The third thing I noticed was the reaction from some of the painting in the rooms. Most of the other students seemed able to ignore the fact the paintings, but I still find it a little bit distracting when they move. The paintings in the Defense classroom were portraits of past instructors. I was able to recognize them all, of course, but the ones that most got my attention were those of Professors Remus Lupin, who was particularly pleased to see his former student so successful, and Severus Snape, who clapped indifferently and rolled his eyes with disdain- almost sneering – as Harry greeted the class.

Once the class settled back down, Potter asked us what the point of this class was. As Professor Bones insisted, a load of hands went up, waiting to be called on to answer the question. Earlier in the year, I got docked credits for speaking out of turn; not that that was a problem, I had already racked up plenty by then, and quickly made up for it anyway. He called on few people and got a handful of different answers. Marius said it was to learn how to fight evil. Olivia Beach said something similar, but instead she emphasized that it was defend against evil. By then I was waving my hand frantically; sure I had the best answer. Adam's answer was a bit more practical in that he said it was preparation for when we encounter the Dark Arts; which was a good one, after all, classes and real life were bound to be two very different things. Then Harry pointed at Rachael; though it was only after looking at her moment like he almost recognized her with a hint of disdain. I'd have to ask her about that later.

"It's so that we can recognize evil when we encounter it, and be able to adapt to it and maintain hope when confronted with it; so we can hold to the light even in the darkest of times." She said. I had to admit, that was probably even better than my answer. Even Harry seemed mildly, if a little begrudgingly, impressed.

"Alright, that's enough of that for now." Harry said. "The thing you need to understand about the Dark Arts, about Darkness in general, actually, is that it is varied, ever changing, and eternal. It is like fighting a multiple headed monster that grows a new head each time you cut one off, and the new head is even deadlier than the one before. In short, when up against it, you are up against that which is unfixed, mutating, and indestructible. Therefore, your defenses must as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to counter."

In a way, I was disappointed that he didn't call on me. In another way, I was kind of pleased that his little lecture was almost exactly the answer I wanted to give; it felt like validation of a point I was going to make without even having to make it.

"Plagiarism, Potter?" the Snape Portrait called out coolly. "In a sense I suppose I should be flattered that you even retained anything I ever taught you; or was that from notes that one of your friends took for you – Miss Granger, perhaps?"

"For Merlin's sake, Severus!" the Lupin portrait retorted. "Even after all this time, you still hold on to your resentments?"

"It's alright, Remus." Harry said calmly. Then he looked at the Snape Portrait. "On the contrary, Severus, and I can call you that now as I too am effectively an instructor, I remember much of what you taught me, and despite our past differences I have come to respect you a great deal." He turned his attention back to us. "That said Professor Snape is absolutely correct. The description of our purpose here today is very much based off a lesson he gave me, and in all fairness his role in the final war against Voldemort is all the proof he will ever need to validate his theory as being correct."

Snape, in his portrait, glared at Harry a moment from behind the curtains of his greasy-looking black hair, scoffed, and sharply turned his back to the class and stormed out the frame of his painting, robes flapping kind of like bat wings around him.

"So today, your Professor has graciously allowed me to show you a very basic defensive spell called the shielding charm. It's a simple enough charm, but the process of learning it can prove to be a touch messy on the first few go's. So for this practical lesson, we are going to head for the Great Hall, don't worry, your Headmistress has permitted this. Please, will all of you follow Professor Bones in an orderly fashion? Thank you."

"Isn't this brilliant?" Philip said. "We're actually getting taught something from Harry Potter; _the chosen one!_ "

"Yeah, great," Daisy agreed, though she wasn't nearly as excited as most of the other students save for Albus seemed to be.

"Hey, Dursley, you should cheer up a little, yeah?" Hodges called from nearby in line. "With your uncle teaching this one, you might actually get it right for once."

"He'll probably go easy on you and Albus because you're family," Wilkes added with a scoff. Scorpius shot Wilkes a glance, and Wilkes mocked concern at him.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Albus said just under his breath. "My brother James told me once that dad was harder on him than any of the other students because he expects us to be as good as he is, if not better."

"Well, somehow I doubt that," Rachael countered. "That would just be cruel and unrealistic."

"Not to mention unethical – either way!" Adam added. "I bet he treats us all the same so long as we try our best."

We finally got to the Great Hall, and Professor Bones moved the tables and chairs out of the way with a wave of her wand. Then Harry began to teach us the Shielding Charm. Once he was satisfied that we had the incantation down, we were instructed to pair off; somehow I got stuck with Tim Solberg, the literal egg-head. Even his skin was an eggshell color. Anyway, each pair went in turn to try and get the spell, and as usual, there were a variety of results and varying degrees of success. The first few times, Tim was just quicker than I was, but in the end I got it right in fewer tries than he did. I gave him a wink and he gave me a scowl. I'm not ashamed to admit that I got off a little at coming out on top of him yet again. As usual, when it came to defensive spells Rachael was the first one to really get right; she got it on her first try, and Bones gave her ten credits. Albus was having trouble with this one; I'll say it was because it was dad teaching and Albus was anxious because of it. Daisy got the incantation wrong and made a starburst effect, knocking almost everyone's wand out their hands- actually causing minor injuries to a few. She didn't get the charm by the end of class.

After Defense, we had history; but first there was a brief recess. This gave those hit by Daisy's botch a chance to get checked at the hospital wing while the rest of us took a short break. On the way out, Professor Bones advised Albus and Daisy practice both disarming and shielding charms. That was when everything really started going sideways. It all started with Hodges.

"Hey, Dursley," She called out from behind us. "You must really be awful if even the famous Harry Potter can't teach you!" Her comment was met with a scattering of laughter; most loudly from York, Wilkes, and Solberg, but there were others, too. I was pretty sure I heard someone mutter the word 'Mudblood', on top of it all.

Philip whipped around. "Leave her be, Hodges!" he warned. Wilkes moved forward and growled at Philip, causing him to back down again.

"And isn't that special?"Hodges laughed. "Now you have your chubby boyfriend sticking up for you? Is that it? I thought you would be some kind of tough girl, what with your Mum and Dad being fighters. You really are totally pathetic."

What happened next happened so fast I'm not even sure of everything that went down. One second Hodges, York, and them are having a chuckle at Daisy's expense, and the next thing I know Peeves is shouting "FIGHT!" over and over again, and Daisy is going all Chuck Norris on all of them; knocking wands out of people's hands, taking people down like it's nothing, and before I even know it, even Philip is flat on his back, Daisy's fist something like a centimeter from his nose before McGonagall is shouting that she's seen enough, freezing everyone in place. Beside me, Rachael was regarding Daisy slack-jawed, and that was when I noticed that Adam must've bolted to get a teacher or something, because he was kind of trying to hide behind the headmistress.

McGonagall made short work of breaking up the crowd, and led Philip and Daisy to her office while the rest of us went either on to History class or to the hospital wing. History with Binns was, as usual, a total drag. I say that even if I'm doing better in that class than anybody. It's not the class itself that is dull, I should say; it's Professor Binns. I swear he even bores himself. At lunch, Adam sat apart from Rachael, Daisy and I; I think he was trying to keep distance between himself and Daisy. I don't blame him, to be honest; the looks Daisy was shooting him could freeze the blood of a polar bear. She told us how she made sure Philip didn't get in any trouble, and apologized for throwing him and nearly knocking his lights out. Philip said he shoulda known better than to try and grab her from behind like that. Daisy got detention that night; no Slug Club, and definitely no checking out the Forest. She also got docked a ton of Credits; that had to sting.

On the bright side, the whole matter of Filch was apparently dealt with. That meant Rachael and I were still in the clear, as long as we could convince Slughorn that we were ducking out of his party that night to try out my new panascope. I didn't think that would be a problem. As it turned out, I was right about that.

The rest of classes were unremarkable; not much happened. Adam was pretty stand-offish for the most part; he spent most of the rest of the day with Kyle Delaney and Indigo Alders. That was probably in order to stay out of Daisy's way. Anyway, the day crawled along until the Halloween Feast. Even Filch was there – off to one side. I remember waiting with baited breath until I saw an elf (it might have been Kreacher, but he was pretty far away from the First Year table, so I couldn't tell for sure), and I noticed that Albus had a fairly proud look on his face as Scorpius struggled to hold back from breaking into hysterics. I gathered those two probably had some caper in mind too. Whatever it was, I figured it was best if I didn't know; I read once that wisdom sets limits even to knowledge.

After dinner, Daisy set off to her detention. Adam tried to apologize; I think Daisy accepted it, but coldly. At least her detention was to be served with Professor Longbottom, who's probably the nicest teacher in the school. Detention is never a good thing, but if you have to serve it, Longbottom has got to the best scenario you could hope for. Hagrid's pretty cool, too, but from what I heard his detentions can be life threatening – not that he means them to be. I don't think Rene is authorized to do detentions. So while Daisy was off to the Greenhouses, Rachael, Adam and I made ready for the Slug Club bash. Well, Adam did; Rachael and I made it look like that was our goal. He actually set off well ahead of us; I think he was keeping what he thought was a safe distance from us until he figured we were over his role in Daisy getting a detention.

"Oh, and Richard," she said, "don't forget your panascope!"

"What? Why?" I asked. "We're not really going to need it."

Rachael rolled her hazel eyes at me. "You know what? For a smart guy you can be really dumb sometimes." She said. "You should bring it along so when we duck out you can show it off and make our story more believable to Slughorn!"

All I can say is Derp. Of course that was a good idea. I wondered for a minute how she got so good at being so sneaky. Then I remembered she'd probably been working out ways to get past her parents for at least the last five years- or maybe even her whole life.

So Rachael and I headed for Slughorn's party. To be perfectly honest I don't remember much about it, but then again I wasn't much interested in going in the first place – not this time, anyway. I do remember that Albus Potter wasn't there; he apparently had some excuse. I think it might have been that he was swamped with homework. It didn't much matter; the main idea was to make an appearance and get Rachael and I excused.

As it turned out, that was even easier than I thought it would be. We were there maybe fifteen minutes before Professor Slughorn himself greeted us and asked us if we were enjoying ourselves. Adam was particularly enthusiastic about how great the party was. Slughorn seemed pleased, and made a point of wishing me a happy birthday and pointed out that the day was also the death day of the Gryffindor Ghost Sir Nicholas, whom he introduced us to. Slughorn also apologized for not having a gift for me.

I took that as a cue, and suggested he could write up a quick notice of excuse to allow me and Rachael to go up to the Astronomy Tower so we could try out my new Panascope. The Wormwood Asteroid should be visible, I explained, and I would love the chance to watch its progress across our skies. Slughorn was happy to oblige. He even encouraged our intellectual curiosity.

Leaving Slughorn's office, I started off towards the front entrance right away in order to take a direct route- or so I thought I was until Rachael grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into a different direction.

"We have to go this way," she said, leading me away.

"Oh, right, thanks." I replied, following along. I actually had no idea why she was leading me the way she was. But then, my sense of direction was dreadful so I deferred to hers. We started off on her path towards the exit; which I was sure was starting to look like it was a really long way around- as if she was planning on taking us to the Astronomy Tower first. It was right around then that our path was blocked; first by Mrs. Norris and then by Mr. Filch. He was trying to grin with some kind of triumph, but it was obvious that his bowels were rebelling against him rather strongly. He kept clenching his guts.

"Well, well, well," he grumbled at us, "what have we here? Out of bed and not Slughorn's gathering, are we?" He gripped his stomach as if in terrible pain, halting him from saying whatever he was going to say next.

"But we've got permission, sir," Rachael jumped in. "Professor Slughorn even gave us special slips to excuse us; look." She elbowed me sharply in the ribs. I produced the slip Slughorn gave me and handed it to Filch.

"See, it's my birthday, and Adam got me this new Panascope so I wanted to try it out to see the Wormwood Asteroid." I added, showing him the panascope as proof.

Reluctantly, Filch handed the slip back to me; clearly more because he had more...pressing matters to attend to than because he believed us. Not that it mattered much; any reason was sufficient at that point. As soon as I took the slip back, Filch ran for it to get to the nearest latrine, Mrs. Norris racing after him. As Filch passed by an intersecting hallway, we saw Albus and Scorpius stick their heads out and watch as Filch sprinted away from us and turn a corner. They looked over at us and nodded slowly; we nodded back. It seemed there was definitely more than one caper going on this night. Albus and Scorpius went on their way and we went on ours, none of really wanting to know what the other was up to. That actually made sense; this way none of us could rat each other out if any of got caught because none of us could tell what we didn't know.

Finally we made it to the edge of the forest, careful to circumvent Hagrid's hut as much as we could. As we entered into the forest there were about half a dozen crows grumbling at us as if to warn us off. One of them flew off as we passed them by and actually entered the forest proper. One of the remaining crows followed us in, cawing out its objections all along the way. Rachael was leading the way; she had a better idea of where it was we were actually going than I did.

"Can't you shut that thing up?" She hissed, losing her patience. "It's going to give us away."

"I think that might be the idea." I replied. I then got my wand out and pointed it at him, chanting " _Silencio_ " in order to silence him.

Rachael thanked me and indicated which direction we needed to go next. Finally we got to the roped off area. At this point I hesitated; my fear at what might be in there started to outweigh my curiosity. It was like a weird, almost sentient fog as being contained within the area. I say it seemed almost sentient because it was moving, actually moving around, like it was literally trying to escape the roped off region.

"What d'you suppose it is, anyway?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she said vaguely, almost trance-like. "But I aim to find out." She started to move in closer. I grabbed at her shoulder, but she shook me off. "There's only way to find out," she continued. She continued moving towards the fog, which seemed to be beckoning her. As she got to ropes, a tendril of the fog reached around her and appeared to be pulling her in. As I was about to run up and try to grab her, I was suddenly lifted up by a massively powerful hand.

"WHAT THE DEVIL ARE YEH DOIN' OUT 'ERE?" Hagrid bellowed at me. Then he slung me over his massive shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and I saw that professor Bones was with him. "You can't be out here in the forest, especially not at night! Ye 'ave no idea how dangerous it is!" He began to carry me back

"Wait!" I cried, "Rachael..."

"Never mind about Miss North," Professor Bones cut me off. "Perniculus will fetch her. Hopefully she's not too badly harmed; you're in enough trouble as it is!" With that, Bones led the way as Hagrid carried me back onto the school grounds. Along the way, a great winged man-bird soared overhead and into the fog.

By the time we got to the front entrance, the headmistress was there waiting for us along with Professors Flitwick and Sinistra. Behind them, I saw Daisy walking away; and also there was Tim Solberg with his egg-shaped faced grinning at me as if he beat me at something. It was easy enough to figure out what happened. Tim must have also gotten permission to watch Wormwood, spotted Rachael and I on the grounds heading into the forest and told Sinistra.

Before I could get so much as one word out, McGonagall raised her hand palm facing me to bid me silent. "I will deal with you in my office, Mr. Gavin." She said. Then she instructed the other professors to escort Mr. Solberg back to the first year tower, or to go to the hospital wing and check on Rachael; she said this just as the bird-man (presumably Perniculus the Corax) flew high overhead, another body which I guessed had to be Rachael clenched in his talon-like feet.

In McGonagall's office, the Headmistress scolded me for what felt like an hour. About how reckless we both were. About how lucky we were that neither of us was killed. About how furious Professor Slughorn was that we used him the way we did. Then she declared that the both of us would be docked seventy-five credits, and that I would be given a week's detention effective immediately; that I should count myself lucky that I am not expelled. As for Miss North, the time she will be spending in the hospital wing for observation should be detention enough.

"Why so long?" I dared to ask. "I mean, why is Rachael in hospital so long? Is she seriously hurt? What's wrong with her?"

"I assure you, Richard, you need not worry too much about that." She replied,warming slightly after seeing my concern for Rachael over the length of my detention. "It's purely for observation to be sure that she's alright." Then she bid me off to bed.

I turned to leave the office, but stopped at the door. "What is it that's out there?" I asked.

"We don't precisely know.' She answered. Either they didn't know, or she wasn't going to tell me. Whichever the case, the tone in her voice was clear; the conversation on the matter was closed.

3

 _From the Diary of Rachael Truth North_  
 _Oct 31_

Today is officially Richard's birthday. He already got my gift; that year subscription to the Prophet, and I helped Daisy set up her gift; a bunch of Banana-Chocolate chip Muffins courtesy of Kreacher. I suggested the type of muffins; I can't quite explain how I know this, but they're his favorite kind. I have no idea what Adam got him, but he seems pretty proud of whatever it is.

Anyway, besides that, we got tonight all worked out. Adam chickened out, but that's okay because this way he can keep cover for the rest of us at the Slug Club Halloween Party. So we're all going to appear at that, then Richard, Daisy, and I are going to duck out. Last night, Daisy told me that Kreacher will be happy to sabotage Filch's tea. The way she tells it, her uncle's ancient elf pretty much hates the old caretaker; called him a nasty old foul git of a squib. Then he promptly chastised himself for talking down to a non magical creature; telling himself that he knows better than that. He apparently got into a bit of an argument over it, and finally relented the chastising since it was Filch, after all. I get the idea that self inflicted scolding is what he does when he says or does something that would offend any rate, the caretaker will be out of our way. We have a cover story for not being at the party. As far as I can see, we got all our bases covered. So we're going to find out what is the big deal out there.

 _Nov 1_

Earlier today, Daisy came in to visit. I got her to grab my diary. I half expected her to comment that she couldn't open it, but she didn't. I hope I'm right about this, because I take that as proof that I can trust her. I'm guessing that she didn't even try to open it; it's a diary and therefore private. Richard and Adam also dropped by to see how I was doing. Richard has a week of detention, and lost seventy-five credits. Actually, we both did. Apparently my visit in the hospital wing counts as detention. Adam confirmed it was Tim Solberg that ratted on us. He was in the Astronomy Tower watching Wormwood (legitimately) and happened to spy us sneaking out into the forest. Daisy says she and Adam are okay with each other again. That, and she's planning on getting help with her spells from Rene.

It's really late. I've been having a hell of a time falling asleep, and even worse time staying asleep once I get there. Halloween turned out to be a nearly complete disaster. It started out alright, I guess; one of Dad's stories made the front page of the Prophet. Sad story; Madame Hooch was killed by those creeps at the Harker Institute of Technology (HIT). Then Richard got a bunch of birthday stuff, including a panascope from Adam. That was handy; it provided a prop to make our story seem more credible.

In classes, Harry Potter did a guest teacher thing for DADA. He started with a lesson about what kind of threat the Dark Arts pose even today. Snape's portrait accused Potter of plagiarism and started razing him until Lupin's portrait called him out. To his credit, Potter handled the whole thing well. It reminded me how Mom used to tell me how much Snape and Potter hated each other. Anyway, after Potter's lecture, he moved us to the Great Hall so we could learn and practice the shielding charm. I got it the quickest. We ran out of time before Daisy or Albus could. That was when the day started going downhill.

After DADA class let out, Hodges started hassling Daisy again. She's been at it all year so far. Daisy finally lost her cool. I could hardly believe it when it happened. Daisy went all Ronda Rousey on her and totally whooped her butt. While she was at it, she took out York and Wilkes too. Then Philip tried to intervene, but Daisy threw him like he was an empty sack and came within a hair of busting his nose before McGonagall stopped the fight. That was when I noticed Richard was as stunned as I was, and Adam was actually standing behind McGonagall.

Long story made short, Philip got off because Daisy explained that he was only trying to stop the fight, but Daisy got detention and took a hit on her credit score. At least her detention was with Professor Longbottom. If you're going to get detention, that's who you want it with; he's by far the nicest teacher in the school. At any rate, Adam chickened out, and Daisy got sidelined so that left me and Richard to check out that roped off area in the forest.

After dinner, Daisy went to the greenhouse and Richard, Adam and I went to the Slug Club Party. Albus was invited, but he declined; claiming he wanted to practice his shielding charm with Scorpius instead. I was actually a little surprised how easy it was to duck out of the party after we showed up. Really the only snag we hit on our way was Filch, and he looked like that dose of U-Go-Poo was starting to its job. We had a form from Slughorn to allow us to go to the Astronomy Tower, and Richard had his panascope for good effect. Filch barely looked at the slip before running for the nearest boy's can, barreling right past Albus and Scorpius like he didn't even see them. The four of us exchanged glances briefly and went our separate ways. (Practicing his shield charm, they said; MY FOOT!)

Then everything got weird. Even as we were going into the forest, about half a dozen crows started going nuts about it. One of them flew off. At the time I didn't think much of it, but now it seems obvious that it was probably going off to tell that Corax we were told about. One of them followed us in and was shrieking at us the whole way. Finally I got Richard to shut it up; he used a silencing charm.

As we got closer to the roped off section, Richard started having doubts. To tell the truth, so was I; but the weird mist or fog or whatever it was that was in there was calling me. I haven't talked to Richard about it much yet, so I don't know what he thinks, but I swear there was something else in the fog; I want to say it was alive, but in a way I'm not sure that's exactly true. One thing was sure, the fog seemed like it was actively trying to get out.

I said that it was calling me, right? I don't think Richard heard anything; it wasn't so much like I heard voices – at least not with my ears. I know it's going to sound like I'm talking about voices in my head, and that would mean I'm nuts or something, but what I heard seemed like it was talking in my mind more than into my ears. Maybe like telepathy. In a way, I felt like I was not inside my body anymore; like my body and I were two different things, and my body was little more than one of those puppets on strings. While the telepathic voice was beckoning me to come closer, to even step beyond the ropes, I vaguely heard Richard ask if I had any idea what was in there. I heard my own voice saying that there was only one way to find out. It was the weirdest thing; I heard my own voice like it was somehow separate from me- kind of like a recording, or maybe like hearing your voice on a PA system.

The thing is, I actually wanted to back off, but couldn't. I couldn't even fight against the way my legs were carrying me. It was like whatever – or whoever, I can't help thinking that whatever was in there was a person- was pulling me in, or controlling the puppet strings. Now I say that it was a person because I'm not sure it is a person anymore, or not exactly. Then I got into the fog. I couldn't see anything, but I felt...something. Or should I say someone? I don't know. Somewhere far behind me I could hear shouting, but I couldn't make out what was being shouted. Much beyond my control, I kept going in deeper. As I went in deeper and deeper, the presence got stronger, more frightening; one thing was clear, it was angry, malicious, and quite mad. It didn't so much speak words as it more conveyed emotional context for what it was saying. Finally, it took a kind of actual form that seemed vaguely female, and a title came to mind: _The Black Queen._

Next thing I know, I'm being pulled upwards into the sky and out of the fog. I could feel sharp talons digging into my shoulders, though not deep enough to cause any harm. The Black Queen of the fog shrieked violently in my head as it lunged forward and up to chase after me. I could see tendrils of the fog actually reaching up for a moment before the shrieking caused me to pass out.

I have no doubt that Mom and Dad will hear about this. I'm not too worried about it, to be honest. It's not like either one of them held the rules with much regard back in their days here at Hogwarts. Another thing; I have a gut feeling that Hodges will think twice before beaking off at Daisy again.

4

Much to Adam's delight, Richard seemed very pleased with the panascope he got him for his birthday. For one crazy moment, Adam even thought that perhaps at the very least Richard would see reason and drop the whole notion of exploring the forest that night in favor of really going up to the Astronomy Tower to watch that comet or whatever it was. That thought only lasted a moment, but it was there.

After breakfast the day went from a good start to an even better day; Harry Potter himself was a guest professor for Defense class. Potter gave a brilliant explanation of the point of the class, and then basically owned Snape (well, his portrait) in a manner of etiquette and ethics.

It was after Defense that things started going wrong. Both Daisy and Albus were having a lot of difficulty with the shielding charm in the class. On the way out, Hodges, Wilkes, and their little crew started in on her. Of all people, Knox stepped up to stick up for Daisy when none of them did. True, Philip was cowed down almost as quickly as he stepped up, but still, Philip did what nobody in that moment did. That had to earn the guy some respect.

Then Daisy threw her first punch. It was the only one Adam actually saw thrown; he bolted to find a teacher straight away, even as Peeves the Poltergeist was chanting FIGHT over and over again like a schoolyard hooligan. Come to think of it, Peeves was basically a schoolyard hooligan. At any rate, Adam bolted down the hall and almost crashed right into Professors Longbottom and McGonagall.

"What's the meaning of this?" McGonagall asked. "Has it not been made clear to you yet that running is not permitted in the hallways, Mr. MacMillan?"

"Professors...please...come quickly!" Adam pleaded between breaths. Even a short sprint like that took the wind out of him. He often liked to think he was in pretty good shape, but now he was starting to think even Philip could outrun him. "There's...a fight...Daisy...Hodges...started it..."

"Hold on, slow down and start again," Professor Longbottom said, but the Headmistress waved him into silence.

"That won't be necessary, Professor." McGonagall interjected. "I assure you that I caught enough of that to understand the situation. Would you please go find Susan and Filius and tell them we have a brawl in the hallway involving a number of first year students; also bring Rene in if you can find him, though I'm sure he'll know soon enough. Mr. MacMillan, please lead the way to the fight in question."

It seemed to Adam that he was gone from the scene for quite awhile; but from what he heard later that was not really the case. By the time he got back with the Headmistress to where Daisy and Hodges were fighting, Hodges was laid flat. Also down was Vanessa York on her back, though she was starting to get up, and Lawrence Wilkes, who was clutching his side; grimacing and gasping. As they, Adam and McGonagall, approached, Philip Knox was grabbing at Daisy from behind, and Daisy threw him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes onto his back on the floor. She then deftly began to strike down into his face.

Adam couldn't be sure if Daisy stopped herself before connecting her fist to his nose because of the headmistress shouting

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Or if she realized what she was about to do a second before and stopped herself first. Daisy was one of his best friends in class, so Adam convinced himself she stopped just ahead of McGonagall's admonishment.

Peeves cackled loudly and raced away everyone else froze after looking up and seeing Headmistress McGonagall standing in the hall gazing at the mob reproachfully. Adam, behind McGonagall, watched Daisy let go of Philip, stood with her arms folded over her chest defiantly. She knew she was in for it and deserved to be for fighting like that; but it seemed to Adam that like she didn't care. The look she gave him made Adam feel like a total heel; like he went and snitched on her. He looked away, ashamed. By then, professors Bones, Longbottom, and Flitwick were approaching the scene.

"I will not tolerate fisticuffs in my school, Miss Dursley." McGonagall said sternly. "You and Mister Knox will be coming with me and Professor Longbottom to my office immediately. Professor Flitwick, please see to it that the uninjured students get to their class. Professor Bones, please escort Mister Wilkes, Miss Hodges, and Miss York to the hospital wing, and then to class once they are cleared to do so."

Without another word, the Headmistress turned sharply and started in the direction of her office. Daisy and Philip followed, Daisy scowling at Adam as she passed; ignoring his apologetic look as she did so.

"Don't worry about it, Adam." Indigo said to him. "I understand you might feel rotten about it now, but you really did the right thing. I'm sure Daisy'll see that soon enough; Rachael and Richard too."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Adam muttered. At the moment, he had his doubts about Daisy and Rachael. He figured Richard would get it; that he didn't mean to tell on Daisy, he just wanted to stop the fight. He might be able to convince Rachael with Richard's help, but right about then he was pretty sure he was shot of Daisy.

"If I tell the truth, mate," Kyle Delaney chimed in, "you're better off this way. I told you that lot was nothing but trouble."

"Well, I don't know about that, Kyle." Adam replied. "I mean, Hodges did sort of start it all, right?"

"Bollocks!" Kyle retorted.

"I think what he means, Adam, is that Daisy didn't have to lose her temper and haul off like that." Indigo interjected.

Then they were in class. After class, it was lunch. As much as he wanted to sit with his friends, when he got to the table there was a distinct chill coming from Daisy, Rachael, and even Richard; especially Daisy. Instead he sat with Kyle and Indigo. Actually, he more sat with Indigo; Kyle was just sort of there. He liked Kyle well enough, but he was sort of prickly about some things.

"So I heard that Dursely's got detention tonight." Kyle announced. "She won't be going to the Slug Club party, that's for sure."

"I would guess not," Adam said vaguely, not really listening too closely. He was lost in his own head. It was true that all he wanted to do was stop the fight, but he felt like a traitor just the same. He kept trying to tell himself that Kyle was right; that reporting the fight was the best thing to do. He didn't really believe that all three of them were trouble, though. Hodges, York, Wilkes and Solberg had been on the three of them all year so far. They were on him, too, for that matter; though not as much. Wilkes and Solberg in particular liked to ride on Richard. Adam thought it was just jealousy; Richard was brilliant. Sure, he could be a little bit cocky about it from time to time, but then again who wouldn't? Richard was both the youngest and brightest kid in the class. Rachael got quite a bit of grief from York and Hodges, but most of that was due to her being friends with Daisy. Adam suspected it was because Daisy was a Muggle-born, so that made Rachael a blood traitor in their minds. It was disgusting that such horrible and outdated ideas still existed.

"What do you think, Adam?" Indigo asked, snapping him out of daze.

"Sorry," he said. "I got lost in thought for a bit; what do I think about what?"

"I said that I heard a rumor that Richard and Rachael were planning on skiving the party. I was just saying that I think it's to support Daisy. What do you think of that?"

"Oh, I don't think so." Adam said, his voice quivering. He could feel himself starting to blush. Indigo blushed a little, too. Hopefully, Adam thought, she was thinking it was because he was nervous talking to her. He was, but that wasn't the thing that got to him. How did that rumor get out? How far did that rumor go? How much about their plan had gotten out? "I mean, last I checked they were still going."

"Well, I hate to tell you, mate," Kyle said, pointing to where the three were sitting. "But I think you might be out of that loop." They were talking amongst themselves, Daisy occasionally glaring in Adam's direction. One of the other girls, named Ariya Casewell, if Adam remembered right, had just handed Richard a gift, which Richard accepted graciously enough at least until Ariya was cleared away.

"So anyway, Adam, I was wondering; are guests allowed at the Slug Club party tonight?" Indigo asked.

Adam didn't know. He didn't think Slughorn would object, but he also didn't see anything on the invitation that said anything about guests. There was also the factor of permissions, and of course he was hoping to use what little time he would have with them at the party to patch up with Richard and Rachael. Besides, trying to cover for them after they left the party was going to be hard enough as it was without entertaining a guest on top of it, especially a guest that he was sure he was falling for.

"You know," he said, "I'm not exactly sure. I think it might be best if I went alone this time to be safe. But I will be sure to ask Professor Slughorn if we are allowed for the next one, yeah?"

Indigo smiled. "Yeah, okay," she agreed. "That's great!"

Things were pretty quiet the rest of the day and through the Halloween Feast. Adam did notice that ancient elf that worked at Hogwart's but served Harry Potter holding a tea tray, and guessed that it was meant for Filch. He held back a laugh, knowing what was in the tea. It wasn't until he was at the party in Slughorn's office that things got interesting.

He arrived at the party well before either Richard or Rachael, doing his best to stay out of their way for the rest of the day. He figured it might be best if he let them cool off before he tried to set the record straight with them. That said, now he was at the party, he soon discovered he'd rather be just about anywhere else.

"Well, good evening, Adam!" Slughorn greeted cheerfully. He glanced around, slightly animatedly. "Where are your friends Richard and Rachael?"

"Good evening, Professor; I'm not sure where they are not here yet, but I have no doubt they'll turn up. From what I heard, Daisy's been sent to Professor Longbottom for detention."

"Oh, yes, the Headmistress advised me of that much." Slughorn nodded. "A most unfortunate situation, that. But then I'm sure we've all had moments where our temper has gotten away from us." He cleared his throat and excused himself to attend to other guests. Adam floated through the office; doing his best mingle despite not really being up for it. Nobody seemed to precisely notice. In the course of that effort, he learned that Albus and Scorpius were also not attending; Scorpius was apparently helping Albus improve his work with spells.

Finally, Richard and Rachael showed up. At first, Adam was hesitant to approach them, but when he did they seemed to be welcoming enough. In almost no time at all Slughorn came by to greet them as well.

"This is really great party, professor!" Adam enthusiastically offered. "I had no idea so many cool people were so directly connected you!" He was hoping his act would be cover enough to hide his lack of interest to be there.

Slughorn beamed. "Why thank you, dear boy." He replied, and pointed briefly at a table displaying photographs of former students that he had taught and had since achieved considerable success. "Unfortunately there are several more that couldn't make it today for a number of reasons." The three of them followed as Slughorn approached the display and started pointing out some of his clear favorites. He started with the now long departed Lily Evans-Potter, Harry's mother, then to Hermione Granger-Weasley; one of Harry's best friends, and current Minister of Wizard and Magical creature relations.

"Dear Hermione, the brightest witch of her age;" he mused. "She couldn't make it tonight; she's a very busy woman, you know. As I understand it she's a favorite pick to be elected Minister for Magic now that Minister Shacklebolt is looking to retire. Now that would be something, wouldn't it?" He set the photo down carefully and gazed off in the distance somewhere.

"It sure would be," Rachael agreed.

Slughorn snapped back to attention. "It just occurred to me! Richard today is also your birthday! Happy birthday to you, dear boy! I wish I'd remembered sooner, then I could have gotten you a gift!"

"Thank you, Professor." Richard smiled.

"I trust your day has been a good one, given all circumstances?" Slughorn asked.

"Oh, yeah; it's been great!" Richard confirmed. "I got tons of good stuff." He pulled out the panascope that Adam got him. "One of the best things was this panascope Adam got me." He handed it to Slughorn, who took it and looked at it appraisingly. He expressed how impressive it was, and asked if he plans to use it anytime soon.

"It's funny you should ask," Rachael chimed in. "Earlier today Richard was debating coming here or going up to the Astronomy Tower to watch the progress of some asteroid..."

"Never mind, that, Rachael," Richard interjected quickly. "I can try it out some other night; there's no need to be rude."

Adam stood there, confused at first, but then caught on to what they were doing; they were playing a kind of shell game. By making it sound like Richard was here for the party despite the fantastic Astronomical event, it would foster in Slughorn a desire to accommodate them by allowing them to go all the more. Or at least that was what they were playing at.

"What asteroid are you talking about?" Slughorn asked; his interest sounded genuine. Already it seemed like their play was paying off.

"It's called Wormwood." Richard said. "I don't know how much you know about it, but..."

"Say no more, dear boy." Slughorn interrupted, not unkindly. "I know the legends and lore of Wormwood and the rarity of its appearance in our skies. "This is an extremely rare opportunity; a once in several lifetimes opportunity. Far be it from me to interfere with anyone's curiosity." He rushed off to a nearby desk and produced a parchment and quill. He quickly signed his name on the parchment and handed it to Richard. "This is a permission form to allow you to go to the tower and observe Wormwood. I also took the liberty to include the two of you to join him, if you wish."

"Wow, this is great! Thanks, Professor!" Richard exclaimed. Rachael shared her gratitude as well.

"You know what?" Adam replied. "I think I'll just stay here at the party. Thanks, though."

Slughorn glanced at Adam, mildly perplexed. Apparently he was certain that he would want to go with his friends over staying at the party. The look quickly changed a beam of appreciation. It was clear that the Potions Master was pleased that his top student amongst the first years was intent on staying with him; Adam guessed that would be translated as loyalty, and that perhaps would pay some serious dividends down the road.

"Very well, Adam," Slughorn said cheerily. "Of course you're welcome to stay." He turned to Rachael and Richard. "You two are free to go and explore your academic curiosity; happy Birthday again, dear boy."

"Thanks again, Professor!" Richard exclaimed happily. Then the two of them took off. Adam waved as they left. He was smiling; it seemed that all was good between the three of them. That lifted his spirits some; and made it possible to enjoy the party a bit more than he was before. There was still the matter of Daisy, but with the three of them working on it they could win her over again. With that in mind, Adam made his way to the snack table.

"Hey MacMillan," Adam turned and saw James Potter standing in front of him, grinning. "You're in good with with Daisy, right?"

"Erm... I guess so..." Adam replied, not wanting to talk too much about the current tension.

"Well, next time you see her, tell her that we in Gryffindor think she was brilliant, yeah?" He requested. "We're all hoping she gets sorted with us, you know? Maybe she can teach us to knock blokes out without magic! That'd be absolutely fantastic!"

Adam smiled. "Yeah, I guess it would be." He agreed tentatively. "I'll be sure to let her know."

"Good show" James said, giving Adam a thumb up before helping himself to one of those Maple Chews that Richard and Rachael liked so much. He popped one of them in his mouth and, after appraising the taste, nodded with approval. "Those are actually really good, especially for a Muggle treat." He said, grabbing several more before heading back to the group he was originally mingling with.

For his own part, Adam did the best he could. He did feel a little bit awkward, being hands down the youngest person in the room. He was, after all, the only first year at the party. Still, he managed to mingle a little; in particular, he actually made a friend of sorts with Roberta 'Bobbi' Bell, a fifth year Hufflepuff who also happened to be Captain of the House Quidditch team- playing as a Chaser. She took a lot of interest in his knowledge of wand lore, which was the second most dominant topic of their conversation after Quidditch. Adam was planning on trying out for Chaser in his second year. He talked a little bit about playing with some of his cousins and such, and sold himself as really quite good. Bobbi nodded; she seemed impressed.

"Well, we'll see each other next year, one way or the other, then." She said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Adam replied, smiling.

"Mr. MacMillan," the voice of Professor Snape, the former Potions Master, Defense Instructor and Headmaster said from beside them. Adam looked over his right shoulder at a portrait of Severus Snape before a wash of green background in a silver frame. Just moments before, the background was blank, and now the Professor, sallow skinned and hook shaped nose with long, greasy black hair framing his head like curtains was scrutinizing Adam. "Headmistress McGonagall has asked me to advise you to expect Professor Corner to come and see you."

Adam swallowed hard. "Thank you, Professor," he replied, doing his best to sound composed and calm. "Can you tell me why?"

"She didn't say." Snape answered. "At least, not to me; however, I do know he is coming to see you and take you back to your tower for an interview. I'm curious; does this have anything to do Miss Dursley and her brawl this morning?"

"How should I know?" Adam countered nervously.

"How indeed, I wonder?" Snape pressed. "Let's try another possibility. Perhaps it's related to the unfortunate affliction Mr. Filch is dealing with regarding his bowels, or the apparent mischief that the younger Potter boy and Scorpius are getting into in the trophy room. But I suppose you wouldn't know anything about either of those things, would you?"

"Actually, no I don't, as a matter of fact." Adam answered. At least part of that was true; he really had no idea what Albus and Scorpius were doing.

"I suspected as much." Snape said dryly. "Not that it matters, I'm sure Professor Corner will discover what he needs to learn from you." He pointed towards the entrance of the office, where Professors Corner and Slughorn were talking. Slughorn then pointed towards Adam.

Adam, now terrified, made his way slowly towards them. Somehow Richard and Rachael were found out; that had to be it. Hopefully they weren't hurt. Of course, even if they were okay, they were going to be in a world of trouble. Maybe him, too; Adam had no doubt that Corner was going to grill him to see if he knew anything. So now he, Adam, had a choice to make; he could deny everything and save his own skin, or he could confess and go down with them.

"Come with me, Mr. MacMillan; now." Professor Corner ordered grimly. Adam followed the Transfiguration Professor to the First Year Tower, where he said the password to open the passage. Then he led Adam into the Common Room and sat him down. Corner asked him if he happened to know where Richard and Rachael went to after they left the party. Adam told him that he thought they went to the Astronomy Tower to watch the Wormwood Asteroid with the panascope he got for his birthday. He felt terrible lying to save his own skin; like a coward, but at the same time he saw no need to ruin his own career before it even began.

Professor Michael Corner nodded. "I see," he said. "Funny thing, though, Adam; you see, Tim Solberg had also arranged to go up to observe Wormwood, and he spied your friends sneaking off into the forest not far from Hagrid's Hut. You wouldn't know anything about what they might be doing out there, would you?"

Inwardly, Adam cursed Solberg and his meddling. Outwardly, he silently shook his head to indicate no. Corner studied him for a moment, and then nodded; apparently satisfied.

"I suggest you stay here. I imagine your friends will be here soon enough. I'm sure you'll want to see them." He said, and turned to leave.

"Does that mean they're alright?" Adam blurted out. Then he cringed, worried he may have tipped his hand.

"I'm sure they'll both be fine as soon as Hagrid and Rene find them and bring them back into the school. Are you _sure_ you don't know anything about their activities?"

"No, sir, I don't." Adam answered.

Professor Corner left. Shortly after that, Daisy showed up, back from her detention. In her arms, she had a huge toad.

"Hey, Daisy," Adam greeted. He pointed at the toad. "What's that all about, then? I thought you had a cat?" He inquired just as Hermione, Daisy's cat wandered into the Common room and towards Adam, who absently scratched her behind the ears.

Daisy carefully placed the toad down on an endtable next to an easychair. "That's Wilbur; Rachael's toad." She said. "He was dwelling in one of the Herbology greenhouses."

Adam's eyes popped. "He's gotten huge!" he commented. "What has he been doing? Eating gnomes?"

"Actually, yeah, he has."

Wilbur hopped off the table and began to leap his way towards the stairs. Hermione watched his progress with bored interest. Apparently she decided that pursuit of the now massive toad wasn't in her best interest.

"Hey, listen, Daisy," Adam began again. "About this morning; I wasn't trying to get you in trouble. I only wanted to stop the fight. I'm sorry it worked out so badly."

Daisy took a deep breath, plunked down on the easychair. "I know that." She replied. "I was angry at first, but I'm over it now, okay?"

Adam let out a sigh of relief. "That's great to hear." He said.

"How much trouble d'you reckon Rachael and Richard will be in?" Daisy asked.

"I dunno." Adam said. "What I do know is that I didn't say anything about it this time. I made like I had no idea; that I thought they were going to try out his new panascope in the Astronomy Tower."

"I said I thought they were at the party" Daisy said. "Solberg was with McGonagall when she asked me about it; I bet he found out and said something."

"He did." Adam confirmed. Before she could ask how he knew that, he told her about his talk with Professor Corner. They were pretty silent after that, during which time Daisy walked up to the bulletin board, took one of Counselor DeFaustis' (Adam just couldn't bring himself to use his first name) parchments and a quill, and wrote something down. Clearly Daisy had decided to take one his Remedial courses. Adam surmised that she thought her difficulty was something more than a stubborn wand. He opted not to say anything on the subject.

Finally, Richard came through the tower door and into the Common Room.

"Are you alright?" Adam asked.

"What happened?" Daisy asked at the exact same time.

Richard told them he was fine, besides his pride being bruised and the loss of credits, and the detention he would be serving for what may as well have been the remainder of the year. Then he told them about their encounter in the woods, Hagrid grabbing him and hollering at him before he got too close to the weird mist that seemed like it was alive, and finishing with seeing Perniculus flying overhead carrying Rachael by the shoulders in his talon-like feet, He said he figured he was taking her to the hospital wing, since she actually went into the mist.

Daisy got up and headed for the door.

"Hold up," Richard called. "Where are you going?"

"To the Hospital wing!" Daisy replied. "Where else would I be going? God, Richard, for someone so smart you can be really thick, you know that, right?"

"So can _you_. You know that, right?" Richard countered. "You just finished detention and now you're going to risk going out in the halls and getting another one? Do you really think Rachael would want that? You can go see her in the morning."

Daisy was about to say something else, but Adam cut her off. "He's right Daisy." He said. "I kind of doubt Rachael would want you or him to make your trouble even deeper. I'll tell you what," He got up from the floor where he was sitting and scratching Hermione's ears. The cat mewed in protest. "I'll go and check on her, and let you know. So far I'm the only one not in any trouble yet, so if I go, the worst that can happen is that all four of us get detention, right?"

Neither Daisy nor Richard could counter the point, and neither of them tried. So Adam left the tower and made off for the hospital wing. It was no secret that he and Rachael were friends, so he guessed he'd be given a pass for being out past curfew in order to see for a moment; and he was. When he got there, Professor McGonagall and Counselor DeFaustis were standing over Rachael who was in a hospital bed, unconscious and rambling incoherently. Madam Pomfrey was quick to make an effort to shoo him away, but Counselor DeFaustis argued quietly that they were friends, and Adam should be allowed to look in on her for minute. Pomfrey looked to the Headmistress for confirmation on this decision and McGonagall nodded solemnly, insisting that it would be only for one minute, and then straight back to the dormitory.

A minute was all it took for Adam to discern that there was literally nothing he could do that would be of any help. Rachael didn't look like she suffered any physical damage, but she was shaking in her sleep; like she had a massive chill, though her skin was dry, so no night sweats. He know a little bit about Medical Magic; both his parents were healers, after all, but this wasn't like anything he'd ever seen nor heard of before.

Then she opened her eyes. For a second they looked like they were red through and through. She looked up at the three of them, grimaced in a way that looked like pure, mad, hatred, and then cackled in a voice that was nothing like Rachael's. Just before her eyes closed, they went back to their usual hazel, but the whites were horribly blood-shot. That was when DeFaustis announced his minute was up and offered to escort him back to the dormitory. Adam cried off the escort, but thanked him for the offer. Then he went back to the tower.


	7. Chapter 7 November

NOVEMBER

1

The first Saturday after Halloween was also the first Quidditch game. Daisy had already served her detention for her brawl in the hallway, so she was permitted to go. Adam didn't have any detention, so it went without saying he could go. As for Rachael and Richard, well Rachael was still in the hospital wing for observation and Richard did have detention.

Of course, everyone was talking about the match; this year the season opener was Hufflepuff against Gryffindor. James Potter was placing bets on Gryffindor to completely demolish Hufflepuff. Bobbi Bell, Captain and Chaser for the Hufflepuff team took that bet; fifty galleons.

Besides that, Daisy had fetched Rachael's diary for her. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help but try to open it; she just had to see if Rachael thought about her as much as she did. Thing is, the book wouldn't open at all. The best result Daisy could get for her efforts was the otherwise empty nameplate on the front cover revealing a single word: **PASSWORD.** After trying at least a dozen different words, Daisy finally gave up and took it to Rachael. She didn't say anything about it; not even to comment on it not opening. The fact that she even tried to read her best friend's diary was too disgraceful; yes they were friends, but that was no reason to pry into her business. Some might say that friends should trust each other with everything and have no secrets, but that was rubbish. If Rachael wanted Daisy to know something, she would say something. Besides, it wasn't as if Daisy told Rachael everything, either.

That first week in November, she also got a reply from Rene; the parchment she wrote her request on asked which course she would like to start with, and Daisy replied Defense. Then the scroll- she presumed it was Rene writing on a similar parchment- set up a date, time, and place to meet for their first session.

Then it was Saturday; the opening of the Quidditch season. It seemed everyone was there; except, of course, for Rachael and Richard. There were even people from outside the school there; mostly parents. Adam's Mum and Dad were there, and when she sat with him, Adam introduced her. They both appeared nice enough, if maybe a little uptight. Miss Granger and Ron Weasley showed up, too, and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. The one person that showed up that was a bit of a shock was Rachael's Mum. Rachael didn't talk much about her parents; but Daisy definitely got the impression Rachael didn't much like them- or at least didn't trust them. She did know part of the reason she wanted to come to Hogwarts instead of Ilevermorny was because of how much farther it was from home.

For her part, Daisy thought Miss North seemed polite enough, if rather forced; like she barely abide being around so many people she considered 'less' than her status. Also, she thought her features seemed all pinched in- much like a Pug dog. At any rate, Miss Pansy North navigated her way through the seats, finally taking one in the midst. She was like a tiny dot of green and silver in a vast sea of scarlet, gold, yellow and black. Daisy wondered obscurely for just a moment why Rachael's dad wasn't there with her; and then decided he was surely chasing down some big story for the Daily Prophet.

As Daisy recalled, Miss North wasn't present for very long; it seemed she got in quite the row with Hermione Granger before the match even started. Something about a broach Miss North was wearing. Daisy wasn't paying much attention, but Pansy claimed it was a gift from an important member of the Black Family after Hermione asked about it. Then Uncle Ron made some kind of crack- probably to break the tension- and suddenly everyone was all up in arms with pushing and shoving and swearing. In very short order, Miss North –ne-Parkinson found herself surrounded by friends and allies of the all but incumbent Minister of Magic. In a huff, Rachael's Mum walked out of the stands of the pitch, head held high in a vain attempt at dignity.

Once that matter was settled and everyone was seated again, the match got ready to start.

"What was all that about, anyway?" Daisy asked.

"I dunno," Adam replied.

"Nothing really to worry about too much, kids," Romilda, Adam's Mum said. "Those two have always been at each other."

"Seems like some things will never change, right?" Ernie, Adam's dad, said.

And then, the whistle blew and the two teams came out and got ready to play. The crowd roared with excitement; in equal measure for both the Lions and the Badgers. Daisy looked aside and saw that Adam was very clearly behind the Badgers; specifically, it seemed their premier chaser and Captain Bobbi Bell; Daisy wasn't sure if she was the daughter or niece of Katie Bell, though she supposed it didn't much matter. One thing Daisy did know; is that all four of them wanted desperately to play. Adam was after becoming a Chaser, Rachael was sure she'd be a great Seeker, Richard fancied he could be Keeper; though Daisy wasn't sure his flying skills would be quite up to it. As for Daisy herself, why, she wanted to be a Beater; that was why she was planning on paying closest attention to the Beaters on the pitch today. Her primary focus was going to be on Roxanne Weasley, whom she learned had beaten her to the punch at being a girl Beater, though there is the Harpies, so obviously that's not really a thing anyway. With that in mind, it was apparent that Daisy would be supporting the Lions.

Oliver Wood, flight instructor and Quidditch referee laid out the rules, and then tossed the Quaffle into the air. Very quickly Daisy got a little discouraged; she had no idea that even at this level the game would be so fast paced. It was all she could do to keep up with the Quaffle at all, and before she knew it the Badgers were ahead 40 points to none. Three of the goals were scored by Bell. Then Roxanne smashed a Bludger, knocking Bell off course enough to drive her into the sand below. It looked like Bobbi was going to be ok, so Daisy didn't feel too badly for cheering the hit; especially since the Lions scored a pair of goals right after that.

The match was actually quite close for awhile, at least until Bobbi Bell came back into play. Little as Daisy liked to admit, Bell was brilliant as a Chaser. She seemed to have a natural ability to find the loops to score. The way daisy was seeing it, the only one able to even slow Bobbi down was Roxanne Weasley. She made a note of it. When she was a Beater, whichever team, if she was up against Bobbi Bell, it was on Bell her sights would have to be locked. Beside her, Adam was ecstatic. Daisy could understand why; it was looking like Bobbi Bell was almost singlehandedly demolishing the Gryffindor Lions. It was apparent to Daisy anyway, that Gryffindor's only hope was to catch the Snitch. The score had worked up to seventy points to sixty, with the Lions actually pulling ahead for a moment before Bobbi Bell recomposed herself enough to get back into the match, and then almost as suddenly as Daisy could blink, it seemed the score a hundred and ten to seventy; three of the goals scored by Bobbi herself, and she played a role in setting up the other two. Roxanne Weasley did manage to tag with a Bludger or two, but not enough to stop her like that first hit. Daisy looked frantically for the Snitch to see if the Gryffindor Seeker, a boy called Stephen Dunn, was anywhere near it. She couldn't see the Snitch, but then Dunn dove into the pitch, racing towards the Hufflepuff loops, just as their Seeker, an African boy called Thomas Venport- older brother of Dennis who was in first year with Daisy- was streaking on his broom mere inches above the grass and rising towards the same spot. It looked to Daisy like they were as likely to crash as not, and the announcer whose name escaped Daisy seemed to agree. Daisy looked away, shutting her eyes to avoid seeing the inevitable carnage...

"AND VENPORT GUNS HIS BROOM AT THE LAST SECOND, GAINING JUST ENOUGH SPACE TO SNATCH THE SNITCH AND AVOID COLLIOSION!" The announcer screamed at the top of her lungs. "Unfortunately, Dunn was not so lucky; he's smashed straight into the sand. BUT NEVER MIND THAT! HUFFLEPUFF WINS! 260-70 FOR HUFFLEPUFF! Captain Bobbi Bell, Chaser extraordinaire, has put together a bloody brilliant team, my apologies for the language, Headmistress."

"Bollocks" Daisy muttered.

"Did you see that?" Adam asked gleefully straight into her ear. "Did you see that? She's brilliant, isn't she? It's not just the scoring; it's the setting up the plays!"

"Yeah, I saw it!" Daisy replied, smiling for Adam's sake; it was good to see at least he was happy; sort of. She could be happy with him for his sake; kind of. "She was great."

Apparently Adam was not oblivious, in his glee after all. It dawned on him that she was, although technically a Muggleborn was actually born from a Squib, and that much of her extended family, in the stands with them right now, were Gryffindor for generations and most likely here to support their House. He calmed down immediately, even as he and his father exchanged high fives and bumped their fists together. Adam then made a point of shaking hands respectfully with Daisy first, then several members of her family present, saying 'good game' to each of them.

As the crowd began to disperse with the end of the game, Daisy endured Adam going on about his new apparent hero in Roberta Bell; mostly by tuning him out- or at least turning the volume down a notch or two. On their way out, she noted Bobbi and Roxanne were actually talking at the other end of the Pitch; it looked like they were having an amicable conversation. It struck Daisy odd they would be friends. But that is how it almost looked.

Of course she went to other games throughout the month, but much of the remainder was all about sessions with Rene. Although there was some ribbing to deal with about needing remedial courses, especially from York and Hodges, the one really big bonus was the sessions often meant she had reason to be out of the dorm after curfew.

The first session, which was on DADA, was particularly helpful; Daisy quickly found Rene to be highly approachable and actually a very good teacher. They started with the disarming charm. Her first attempt worked more like a stunning spell; nearly knocking Rene off his feet even though he did manage to block the actual spell.

"Wow," he commented. "There's a lot more to your punch than I expected. May ask you what your core is?"

"Pegasus Feather," Daisy replied.

Rene nodded. "They tend to be a little stubborn, don't they?" He asked rhetorically. "That might be part of the matter; it will take some patience, but I have little doubt it'll come around. Full disclosure; I checked with a few of your instructors, and they all seem to concur that you're not as far behind as you might think." He readied himself. "Here's what I'd like to try; take a deep breath, counting to four as you in inhale."

Daisy drew a breath, counting to four.

"Now hold it for four seconds, please."

Daisy held her breath, counting to four.

"Now exhale, counting to four."

Daisy did it.

"Now hold it, again for four seconds."

Daisy did as Rene instructed, and then repeated the whole process at his request. Then did it twice more, and by then she felt different; she felt a lot more...grounded, more centered, calmer. Then Rene had her try the charm again.

A red stream came from her wand, and connected with his wand; but instead of knocking his wand from his hand, the stream wrapped around his wand and made sparkles.

"Okay, good," He said. "That's an improvement, right? You're already showing signs of harmonizing with your wand! Care to have another go? Only this time, perhaps it might help if your snap at the end wasn't quite so sharp."

Daisy did want to. This time, she more flicked her wand at the end of her wave rather than snapping it. Finally, Rene's wand shot out of his hand and clattered to the floor of the DADA classroom. He quickly snatched it up, congratulating Daisy as he did so. They gave it a few more goes, and made sure that she actually had the charm down.

"Let me ask, if I may, what was the main thing that was different now from before?" Rene asked her.

"I guess it was that I felt more relaxed; less pressured." Daisy replied. "I reckon the breathing helped some."

Rene beamed. Apparently her answer served to prove a theory of his or something. He then advised that she practice the breathing technique each morning as part of her morning exercise program, and at night before going to sleep.

"The idea," he explained, "is to keep your mind and body in harmony with each other. This way, you are centred with yourself and thus more apt to harmonize with the world around you. Your wand should be more cooperative as a result. Of course, there are some issues with your form that I would like to work with, but I'm already certain that you'll see a noticeable improvement in your regular classes."

He was right. That month was by far her best month in school so far. She had even managed to rack up a few credits towards her prospective House. Not only that, but Rene was very handy in gently taking notice of the slight weaknesses in her actual technique. By the time they got to Christmas break, she still felt like she was a little behind the curve, but also felt like she was catching up.

2

My detention was assigned to Filch. The old custodian squib was delirious with pleasure at the prospect. Much to his disappointment, Headmistress McGonagall warned him that corporal punishment was strictly verboten; there would be no hanging students by their thumbs in the dungeon. I'm not sure if she gave Filch this warning only to frighten me, or because Filch really needed this kind of instruction. If it was to scare me, it worked; I was freaked right out. He was clearly dismayed at this limitation, but made up for it in his own way by vocally reminiscing about the days when such punishments were the norm, while coming up with the most unpleasant tasks he could think of.

The first night of detention saw me scrubbing toilets without magic; starting with the one he was forced to use after being dosed with Daisy's U-Go-Poo. It was all I could do to keep from gagging, much to Filch's joy.

"If I can't have the punishment you're really due, then let the punishment fit the crime, I say." He rasped at me. "You and your little friends were behind that prank; I know it! Count yourself lucky I can't have my way; if I did, you'd be paddled while hanging by your ankles!"

You get the idea. These were the kinds of things Filch had me do.

Anyways, the first Saturday of November was the opening of Quidditch; Gryffindor against Hufflepuff. As I was still in detention by then, I was not allowed to go. I did, however, get to go see Rachael during the game; she was still in the hospital wing 'for observation' I had no idea what they were observing her for, except that it had to have something to do with that weird mist in the forest.

I know she got a howler from her mom over our misadventure; she was clearly furious. I didn't hear the message myself, but I was told that in it, Mrs North threatened to pull Rachael from school personally if stepped out of line again. Even I got a letter from my mom, delivered by Isis- that's Adam's owl. She said she was disappointed in me, that I should know better than to disrespect the rules of the school like that. That I know very well rules like the one about the Forest are in place for my protection and safety. She didn't make any threats, but it was clear that she was not happy with my behavior.

So I went over to the hospital wing to visit Rachael. When I got there, her dad was just leaving; actually I almost ran right into him except that he gripped my shoulder firmly and stopped me before we crashed. He was once again wearing his green overcoat with the silver buckles; which I noticed now were little serpents. His unnaturally red hair was tied into tiny braids and he had strange golden eyes. What I also noticed was the tattoo on the back of his hand; a blue pentagram.

"Oops!" I cried. "I'm so sorry, sir! I should've been paying closer attention to where I was going!"

Mr. North smiled; I think it was an attempt at a warm smile, but something in it chilled my bones.

"No harm done, I'm sure." He said. He studied me a moment, as if sizing me up. "You're Richard Gavin, David's son, yes?"

"Yes, sir," I responded.

"Rachael has mentioned you in her correspondence. She tells her mother and I that you're quite brilliant and talented, especially for your age; possibly the best of this year." He said with a kind of icy calm. He wasn't unfriendly about it, but his cordiality seemed less than genuine. "It's good to meet you. I'm Rigel North." He extended his hand in greeting.

We shook.

"Good to meet you, too, sir." I replied. "Thanks for the subscription from the Prophet, by the way. I really like your work; someone has to keep watch over the activities of those Harker people."

Mr. North beamed; apparently I said the right thing. "Thank you," he said. "Well, I suppose you're here to see my daughter; I'll let you to it." He released my hand and stepped aside to let me pass as he made his way down the hell to wherever it was he intended to go next; my guess was to the match.

I walked into the hospital wing and made my way to Rachael's bunk. She was sitting up with her journal in her lap and a quill in her hand. She looked up and saw me, and then promptly closed the journal and placed the quill on the table beside her.

"Hey, Richard," she greeted, smiling. "I guess you decided to come see me since you can't go to the match, eh?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." I answered. "How're you feeling?"

"Good, actually," she said. "Maybe a little bored, but good. They say they'll be letting me go tomorrow night; I figure they've decided I'm fine. Now it's just a night and a day of follow up. What about you? How're you doing?"

I groaned. "Detention's been with Filch." I answered. "Some of the things he's had me do have been beyond gross; before you ask, I don't really want to talk about it. On top of that, he's been hovering around me and telling me what kind of punishments he remembers from days of old."

Rachael swore. "And here I thought I had it rough." She commented. "Sorry about your luck."

I waved it off. "I got to wondering just how old Filch really is."

Rachael laughed lightly. "I don't know for sure, but the way my dad and mom talk, he was old when they were in school."

I believed that.

"So I nearly crashed into your dad on the way in." I said to change the subject. "I guess that was a pleasant visit; more grief over our little exploration, right?"

"Funny you should say," Rachael replied. "He was here for that, but not quite for the same reason as mom's howler. See, he was giving me crap for being careless and getting caught; can you believe that?"

I blinked and gave my head a good shake. I was starting to think maybe her old man was alright, after all. I even told her so. She said that it would seem that way, but the way she trailed off made me wonder what she wasn't saying. Maybe she just didn't want to talk trash about her folks; it's already evident that for some reason she doesn't like them much. I can't help but think that might just be a girl thing.

"Yeah, it kind of does," I said. "So, anyways, are you allowed to say what they are observing you for, or is that a big hush-hush thing like the forest was?"

"They didn't say I couldn't talk about it, so I'm guessing it's okay." She answered. "Mostly they've just been watching me, asking me weird questions mainly about my dreams; that and about what I remember of what happened out there in the mist."

I was a little bit curious about that, too. "What did happen? If I can ask."

She said it was no problem and then told me as best as she could. It sounded to me like some kind of ghost or something, but I'd have to research it to be sure. I started off by asking what she thought was really out there.

"That's just it," she said. "I'm not sure asking what it _was_ is the right question. I almost think we should ask _who_ was it that was out there. It really felt more like a person than a thing... or kind of. I even asked if they had any idea, and they just kept changing the subject or avoiding my questions altogether. Why do grownups do that?"

I shrugged. "I have no clue." I answered honestly. "What I wanna know is if it was so dangerous, why didn't they just get rid of it right off?"

"Maybe they couldn't." Rachael replied. For just a second her expression changed; like she was morbidly pleased. "Maybe it's too powerful. Maybe all they could- I mean can- do was detain it until they can figure out what to do with it."

"Yeah, maybe," I agreed. "Well, I guess I oughta get outta here. I'm sure Filch has something especially pleasant for me to do tonight, so I better make sure I'm ready for it."

Rachael wished me luck as I left. From outside, I could hear the cheers from the Quidditch pitch and heaved a sigh; wishing I could have been there with them watching the match.

"Awww... poor wittle Richie," Peeves taunted me from overhead. "Can't watch the game 'cuz he's been a baaaaad boy..." He cackled, giving me a raspberry as he floated backwards through the wall behind him.

It was around that point that the first of the revellers of the match came rushing through the door; judging from the amount of black and yellow flying around, I was able to quickly figure out that Hufflepuff had won the first match of the season, and from the resounding chants:

"BOB-BIE! BOB-BIE!"

I was able to discern that most of the credit was being given to Bobbi Bell, their team captain and premier Chaser. Given that Thomas Venport was being carried into the school on the crowds' shoulders, I reasoned out that Dennis' older brother, the Hufflepuff Seeker probably caught the snitch as well.

"Too bad you had to miss it, Richie," Dennis shouted as he grabbed me to bring me along with the crowd. "It was bloody brilliant! At the end, it was a race for the Snitch; Thom and Dunn were both going for it," He held his hands out, one low and one high, and gradually brought them closer together. "And then at the last second Thom gunned his broom and..." He sped up the movement of his lower hand to zip it past his higher one. "POW! He had the Snitch and Dunn ate pitch!"

"Yeah, it sounds awesome!" I said, grinning. "I wish I could've been there. Hey, you know what? I really gotta go. Filch, you know..." I excused myself, hearing Dennis say something to the effect of yeah right. Then I nearly got run over by Adam.

"It was amazing, Richard!" He said. "You really missed out...oh, sorry; I guess you don't need to hear about it right now, do you?"

"It's fine, Adam." I reassured him. "Why don't you walk with me to the dungeon and tell me about it?"

That was an invite I quickly regretted. He accepted the offer happily, and proceeded to give me a play by play in intricate detail; most of his focus being on Bobbi Bell and her 'brilliant plays' both with her scoring and her setting up her other Chasers.

"She's a genius, I tell you." Adam gibbered. "I hope I get sorted into Hufflepuff just so I can be on her team next year; I can't imagine anyone beating the Badgers as long as she's Captain."

For most of November, that's how it went with Adam; Bobbi Bell this and Bobbi Bell that, with some healthy doses of Indigo Alders in there for good measure if the subject wasn't Quidditch related in any way. He clearly had no interest in whatever it was or is in the forest anymore; in fact he seemed to do all he could to avoid that subject altogether, quickly changing it to either Quidditch or classes or Indigo- sometimes he would ask Daisy how her work outs with Philip were going or inquire about Rene's lessons.

The four of us managed to stay out of trouble long enough to go to the next match: Ravenclaw against Slytherin. The crowd gathered at the Pitch was nothing short of phenomenal; not only were the students all there- as far as I could tell- and the whole staff, but several parents and relatives, too. Even Draco Malfoy- that's Scorpius' dad- showed up. Apparently his mom wasn't feeling well that day. The stands were a wash of blue, bronze, green and silver. Banners of Eagles and Serpents were flying everywhere. It was kind of like this hockey game my mom took me to once, but way better.

Even Rachael's mother was at the game. She apologized to Rachael that her father couldn't join them, but he was up in the announcer's booth to do a report on the game for the Prophet. She pointed up to the announcer's booth, and sure enough there he was, with the announcer and the Deputy Headmaster Professor Flitwick.

"And what about your mother, dear?" she, Mrs North, asked me. "Will your mother be joining us? What was her name again?"

"Uh... no I don't think she will be." I replied kind of dumbly. "She's back in Canada, and a Muggle, see? Her name's Sylvia, anyway."

"Oh, a half-blood are we?" she commented, as if she suddenly caught a whiff of dragon fertilizer. "Well, I suppose we can't hold that against you, talented as Rachael tells us you are." For some reason, I got the idea in my head it might have been a mistake to tell her my mother's name.

"Mom, please!" Rachael cried, sounding a little embarrassed. I have to admit, knowing she had mentioned me in her letters to her parents made me feel a little bit giddy inside. Of course, she probably mentioned Adam too; not so much Daisy, though. I always got the impression her parents felt the same way about Muggleborns as Solberg, York, Wilkes and Hodges did. But they didn't mention Adam. Was I given special mention? For that matter, when mentioned her to my mom in my letters hoe, did I give any impressions she was separate somehow from Adam or Daisy?

A whistle blew. The teams came out. The announcer introduced the teams.

"And let's not forget, the new captain of Ravenclaw, their aptly named Keeper, TREVOR WALL!"

The roar from the Ravenclaw supporters was deafening as they cheered and chanted his name over and over again. I was hoping to try out as Keeper next year for whatever House I got sorted into, so I figured that if this guy was a good as they made him sound, I might want to study him.

The cheers died down as the teams gathered to the centre of the Pitch and Mister Wood gave a short summary of the rules and outlined his expectations as far fair play are concerned. Finally he tossed the Quaffle in the air and in a flash the game was on.

The Slytherin team was relentless right from the start; their central Chaser (I forget his name) clutched the Quaffle as the other two took on a formation like an air force strike; their Beaters wasting no time smashing the Bludgers to intercept the Ravenclaw Chasers. Straight away, the Slytherins tried a fake out move with a drop pass trick, but Trevor was more than up to the task; he made it look effortless when he shifted his position to the hoop the Slytherins tried to score on and kicked the Quaffle away and into the hands of a Ravenclaw Chaser which escaped the onslaught of the Beaters with their Bludgers. The Ravenclaw Chaser (I think her name was Jordan) made a mad dash for the Slytherin goal and tossed the Quaffle. Their Keeper blocked that shot, but then another Chaser in blue tipped the Quaffle through the posts to take an early lead.

The Slytherins quickly regained control of the Quaffle and began a confirmed barrage of shots on Trevor, who blocked every last one of them; he really was like a wall! For what seemed like an eternity, the Slytherin team dominated the pitch, but could not get anything past Trevor 'the' Wall.

"...and there's the snitch!" The announcer declared. "Both Seekers, Watson and Holmes, there's a joke in their somewhere, I'm sure, have seen it and are going for it!"

Sure enough, the Seekers made a dive and run at the Golden Snitch. At first the Seeker for the Slytherins – Watson – took the lead; though not by much, Holmes of Ravenclaw was right on his heels. Meanwhile, the game went on, with Trevor blocking every effort that Slytherin made at getting on the board; even with the ability to cancel out every Ravenclaw to gain control of the Quaffle. Chasing the Snitch all over the Pitch, Holmes and Watson started trying to bump each other off course.

Then the announcer cursed, and quickly apologized to Flitwick for language. "Alex Casewell has just knocked his own Seeker off his broom after Holmes served to avoid his Bludger! He's likely to pay for that mistake!"

"What an IDIOT!" Both Rachael and her mom spat. I glanced at Rachael for a moment; that didn't sound like her at all. Both the sentiment and her voice just sounded all kinds of wrong. She soon noticed I was looking at her, and for just a fraction of a second her eyes looked wrong too. It might have been my eyes playing a trick on me, because as soon as I saw that it was gone.

"HOLMES HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" The announcer shouted. "THE GAME IS OVER! RAVENCLAW WINS, 160 TO NOTHING! What a rare thing to see, a shut out! Trevor really is a wall!"

A wave of blue and bronze stood and cheered. Those in green and silver seemed to groan in unison; including Rachael and her mom. I may have witnessed the one time ever that mother and daughter North actually agreed on something. Meanwhile, the Ravenclaw supporters began to chant WALLWALLWALL! followed by a single sharp clap over and over as Trevor was lifted up on the shoulders of his teammates. Holmes was raised too, but the celebration was obviously mostly about the Keeper captain.

"I have to admit," Adam said beside me. "That's impressive; I can't think of the last time any Keeper got a shutout. Still, I bet Bobbi can get one by him."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." I said back, though at the time I was having my doubts. Bell might be good, but Trevor was nothing short of amazing.

The rest of the month struck me as kind of unremarkable. Classes went on smoothly enough. Daisy was showing some serious improvement; apparently her sessions with Rene were paying off. From what I could tell, a lot of it had to do with some kind of breathing exercise. I don't really get it; but maybe it has to do with some centering herself or something. Adam was big on talking about Quidditch, but actively avoided anything to do with the mist in the forest. Rachael would talk about it, but only in a vague and sometimes rather cryptic way. Daisy once mentioned that she, Rachael, wasn't sleeping well since my birthday. My best guess is that whatever she saw in the mist had a much larger effect on her than she admits; she says she doesn't really remember.

"I reckon tha' migh' be fer the best." Hagrid once said when I told him about that. "The two of yeh should never've gone out there in the firs' place."

"You're probably right about that." I agreed; or pretended to agree. I liked Hagrid a great deal, and didn't want to argue with him. Besides, in a way he kind of was right. We were breaking the rules, Rachael and I.

"Ye better believe I'm righ' abou' tha'!" He admonished further. "McGonagall was furious wit' the both o' yeh! If she wasn' so worried about yer well bein' she migh o' expelled yeh. Why, if it wasn' fer me and Rene remindin' her..."

He stopped talking.

"Reminding her of what?" I asked. I had noticed that sometimes Hagrid gets to talking and says maybe a little more than he should. That theory was confirmed once by Albus... well, more by James Potter; he said that if you ever want word to get around the school fast, just tell Hagrid like it was secret.

"I shouldn' o' said tha'" Hagrid mumbled, lumbering toward the stovetop in his hut to fetch more tea. "I should not have said that. Never yeh mind what we reminded her o', It don't concern yeh none, anyway. Now go on, get on outta here." He said, not unkindly. "I got work to do."

I left his hut and found Rachael and Daisy in the Great Hall. Adam was friends with just about everyone in school, it seemed, so he was off with some other group; Indigo Alders almost certainly among them. Kyle Delaney too, probably; I think Kyle is an okay guy, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me very much. Anyway, Rachael was writing in her journal, and Daisy was playing a game of wizard's chess with Philip Knox. Since it's played just like normal chess except with moving pieces that actually attack each other and sometimes interact with the player, it was simple enough for me to understand. I took a look at the board, and Daisy was winning, It was Philip's move, and despite his pieces objection he made a bad move; one that would almost guarantee Daisy would win. I was about to say something when he looked up at me with a desperate look that told me to shut up. Then I got it; he was letting her win, but he didn't want her to know.

Besides that, I can't say much more about the month of November, except that ny the time December rolled around I was really looking forward to Christmas.

3

To: Rachael Truth North, Hospital Wing, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry From: Pansy North ne Parkinson, Governess of Gringott's (Canadian Branch)  
Re: Your incident in the Forbidden Forest on Halloween

 _A Howler_

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, YOU CARELESS, FOOLISH LITTLE GIRL? Do you have any idea how much of an embarrassment you are right now? Your father and I are VERY disappointed in you! You do realize, of course that you could have been killed, or worse, YOU NEARLY GOT YOURSELF EXPELLED! MARK MY WORDS, YOUNG LADY; IF I EVER HEAR OF ANY HIJINKS LIKE THIS FROM YOU AGAIN, I WILL PERSONALLY COME THERE AND BRING YOU HOME! Then I will give Tonka your favorite gown, setting her free and YOU will take on her chores as if you were nothing more than a FILTHY SQUIB!"

 _From the Diary of Rachael Truth North_

 _Nov_ 6

Still in the hospital wing; but the staff all say that I should be good to go Monday. It's Saturday today. I don't get why I'm here; I feel completely fine. They keep asking me about my dreams. Thing is, I don't remember any. At least it's not like they make me stay in bed; they just don't let me leave the wing. Daisy, Richard and Adam come by a lot. Well, Richard when he can get away from Filch; usually he comes up with an excuse like bringing me homework or to fill me in on what's going on in classes. That's his way of working around his detention restrictions.

Sorry, Richard just popped in; apparently he was able to slip Filch's leash for awhile. Everyone else is on their way to Quidditch. First game this year will be Gryffindor against Hufflepuff (big whoop).

I got a Howler from Mom; whatevs. It's not like she didn't mess around with the rules when she was here. I attached a version of it to this Diary for the sake of it. It's kind of cute that mommy dearest cared enough to send it!

Anyway, just before I got interrupted by Richard, dad was here. He said mom was actually at the Quidditch match; which is weird since it had nothing to do with Slytherin House. His approach in talking about the Forest and the Mist was quite a bit different than mom's. He chuckled about it a little, saying that he and mom should have gotten into much worse trouble with some of the things they did; especially while hanging out with the likes of Draco Malfoy and his idiot friends. The difference, he said, was that they found better ways to not get caught; or better still, they found ways to work the system so that they actually got rewarded for some of their activities. There's something to think about. I bet most of that was dad. I seem to recall that mom was pretty tight with Draco at one point. Apparently mommy picked her pet in the end, and that was actually the wise choice...

I digress. After dad's lecture (which I think was more like a hint) he added that I shouldn't worry about the Howler (I wasn't); that it was sent merely for show. Mother isn't mad that I went out at all. She is disappointed that I got caught, but that is a lesson n and of itself. Then he finally got around to asking how I am.

While I was telling him that I felt absolutely fine, he was watching me very closely. I swear he was looking for something; I know he can usually read me like a book; that was part of the reason I wanted to come here to Hogwarts. I wanted some distance so I can hopefully figure out a way around that. Whatever it was he was looking for, I think he must have found it, or at least saw something he liked. He smiled that serpentine smile of his that passes for warmth and said he was glad. I believe that; dad might be able to spin a story backwards and make it seem like the absolute truth and then twist it into a pretzel, but I think I can read him pretty good. Usually I can tell the difference; and he really was glad I was feeling okay. He asked me about classes, and then went on to ask about my friends.

He seemed marginally pleased that I was associated with Adam, even if his parents were from the Houses he liked least; at least they were both Purebloods. Daisy he didn't seem too interested in; he didn't say anything outright hateful about her, but hardly seemed surprised she would resort to fisticuffs in order to settle disputes. He avoided calling her a Muggleborn and did not use the other term at all, but I got the idea that he believed one could expect nothing else from 'people like her'. The infuriating thing about dad is that I sometimes think he actually believes he's being open minded and 'tolerant'. Still, he does hold to his values, and even he is slippery and sneaky about the way he does things, he gets results, which is much more than I can say for Lucius Malfoy and his useless son Draco.

What struck me as weird was his interest in Richard. Why did he ask so much about a half-blood with so many ties to Ravenclaw? I mean, sure, he's starting a year younger than everyone else and still at the top of the whole class (even me) on average, but I don't get why that would be so important; especially since although he's nice and all, he's also a bit weird and doesn't make friends too easily.

Well, whatever; I guess it's not important. All I know right now is that dad seems keen on me keeping my friendship with him. He also suggested I start keeping track of my dreams. I said I would, but I have no idea what good that will do. He left, and I saw him nearly bump into Richard on the way out. They exchanged words, and as far as I could tell, Richard seemed to think dad was alright. Then he wanted to talk about Halloween. I didn't. I mean, not really; actually I don't remember much more than I already wrote about. Most of that seems kind of vague, too; more like a nightmare than anything that really happened.

 _Nov 11_

 _DREAMLOG:  
I was walking in the halls of school in my bedclothes, late at night, but it was all wrong because it was more like I was floating in my own body. I was on the second floor and heading towards the girl's washroom; the one Moaning Myrtle died in. I remember thinking some totally foreign thoughts about the ghost: _filthy Mudblood; good riddance to that trash anyway. _Where that thought came from I have no clue. Then I got into the washroom and went straight to the sinks. One of the faucets had the Slytherin House symbol engraved on it.  
"Open" I demanded in a voice that wasn't mine, and then cursed when nothing happened.  
"You said it wrong," Myrtle moaned sulkily. "You have to say it in that other language. You know, the one Harry can speak." She sighed dreamily.  
"Be quiet, you miserable little Mudblood!" I snarled. It was as if I was not in control. Myrtle whimpered indignantly and flew herself into one of the toilet bowls and out of sight. _

_Somehow I knew what she was talking about. I had to speak in Parstletounge if I wanted to open this passage to the Chamber deep beneath. The problem was that I didn't know Parstletounge. This is going to make it all the more difficult to the work that needs to be done._

That's what I remembered about my dream. McGonagall has finally let me out to attend classes like a normal student. Richard is still bugging me about Halloween. I'm not sure who Adam is crushing on more; Bobbi Bell or Indigo Alders. Daisy seems alright; she's certainly getting much better at the practical end of classes.

It's a little bit weird here, nobody is really commemorating Remembrance Day. The part that makes it weird is that the UK was definitely in the war and lost plenty of vets. Maybe it's because it was a Muggle war that didn't have much effect on the Wizard world.

I am having a hard time putting my thoughts on paper today; that dream is bugging me; the worst part of it was the lack of control of even my thoughts. It was like I was becoming what I picture my mom was like in school.

 _Nov 16_

So like I've been saying a lot lately, I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. There have been a lot of bad dreams, but I find I forget them as soon as I wake up. All I know is they seem to center around someone called the Black Queen. Daisy has noticed; that doesn't surprise me in the least since she sleeps in the next bunk. I've been considering making use of that Warding Powder mom made me after all. The only problem with that idea is that next year I'll be moving to one of the houses and I don't know if the powder will prevent another student from using my bunk in this first year tower. At least the sleep deprivation hasn't hurt my progress in classes.

Anyway, Richard, Daisy and I have managed to stay out of trouble. Adam never gets into trouble anyway; he's such a goody-goody. Albus and Scorpius got busted exploring the halls after curfew last week; I don't know what they were up to. Daisy said she asked Rose Weasley, but she didn't know exactly, either. Neither did James Potter, but he did mention that Albus actually seemed relieved about something. Whatever. So they got their detention and that's all sorted. It looks like they'll be able to go to today's Quidditch game. It's Slytherin against Ravenclaw.

 _Later that day_

The game was a total blowout. Ravenclaw stomped Slytherin 160-zip. Slytherin could not even get on the board! Mom was disgusted, especially with that idiot Beater Casewell. He nailed Watson with a Bludger! What kind of MORON disables his own Seeker? It was bad enough that the Slytherin Chasers couldn't get past the Ravenclaw Keeper to save their miserable lives, but the team had to botch on every other front! A lot of older students are ribbing on Casewell- both Ariya and her brother – for his botch.

Also, I've thinking about this Black Queen; who is she? Maybe I should look her up in the library. For that matter, I can take Richard with me; I'm sure he'd be thrilled. The library is pretty much his go to spot in the school; I'm almost positive that his sense of direction here is based on where things are in relation to it. Not only that, but he's been hounding me constantly about Halloween, and I'm pretty sure this Queen or whatever has something to do with that.

 _Nov 23_

I haven't invited Richard to look up this "Black Queen" yet. I don't know why, but it seems like a bad idea. Maybe it's because on some level I don't want to know. He's persistent on wanting to talk about that night, though; even with literally everybody saying he should let it go. The other day he told me even Hagrid's saying so; if that old oaf is bright enough to tell him that, then surely it's best to forget the whole thing and just move on with our studies. Or maybe he's having such a hard time letting go of it because he's too clever for his own good. Maybe that's why dad wants me to keep him close, though I still don't see why he should care.

I'm still having a time of trying to remember my dreams. I know that in the one I had last night I was in Slughorn's supply room, though I have no idea what I was in there for. The night before last I was in the greenhouses; Wilbur was in there, eating gnomes and getting super fat; like, ready to explode fat. The part that's weird is yesterday Professor Longbottom said that some Mandrake seedlings vanished. Should I be concerned? No, I wouldn't steal. That's ridiculous.

 _Nov 25_

Okay, I'll admit, I'm getting a little freaked out. Today in Potions Professor Slughorn announced that someone raided his supplies over the weekend. He was perfectly clear he didn't think it was anyone in the first year class, but that we should be very careful about our possessions. Richard asked if he could tell us what was taken, and Slughorn accommodated him by listing a bunch of ingredients.

At lunch, I asked what those ingredients were for. Daisy had no idea. Richard felt he should know, and Adam said they were for an antidote for petrifaction almost right away. I don't get it; what would be the use of that?

The reason I'm getting freaked out is that my dreams- even the ones I can't remember- always seem to have one common thread: I see them through my own eyes, but there's this sense of detachment to them; like it's not really me in them. Maybe that's why I'm having such a hard time remembering them. That I did mention to Richard. Not that I dreamt the greenhouse or Slughorn's supplies; I didn't mention that. I only mentioned the detachment thing. He went on this long exposition about legilimency (I think that's how it's spelled). It's when a witch or wizard basically goes into the mind of someone or something like that. What if I'm doing that to the thief without knowing it or how I'm doing it? That's a creepy thought. Maybe this Black Queen is the thief, and I'm getting into her head somehow.

I'm going to stop there. I'm scaring myself.

4

It occurred to Adam that year that kids in general seem to have a remarkably short attention span. This revelation was made clear to him in the very first week of November. For the first couple of days loads of students were asking him about Daisy, Rachael, and Richard; in that order of frequency. They asked if he, Adam, or Daisy knew what Richard and Rachael were up to on Halloween. They asked loads of questions about Daisy's outburst and if she was like that often. James Potter asked when she was planning on giving lessons on how to scrap like that. They asked if it was true that whatever was out there drove Rachael mad. Ariya Casewell even asked if it was true that somehow Richard set the whole thing up; apparently Wilkes put the idea out there that Defaustis and Gavin and Hagrid were aiming to take over the school or some rubbish.

"Of course, Wilkes also said he'd be willing to put his dislike for the runt aside if that were true." Ariya added. "For some reason he despises the Headmistress."

"Professor McGonagall is the best person to ever run Hogwarts!" Rose Weasley said to that. "She's strict, yeah, but she's fair, too. From what I've been told, she even does a better than Professor Dumbledore did!"

"Well, of course you'd hear that, Weasley," Ariya replied. "Everybody knows how much your family loves having a Headmistress from Gryffindor- especially a blood traitor like..."

"Come on now," Adam interrupted. "There's no call for that kind of talk."

"Is everything alright here?" Counsellor Defaustis interjected. On top of being Counsellor, he was also the staff member that led the first years. As he spoke, Adam noticed, a crow that somehow got into the tower common room flew out a window that got left open. By then, Daisy and Philip had gone off for a run, and Richard was either in the library or serving some of his detention with Filch. Rachael was still in the hospital wing.

Adam felt all eyes in the Common Room rest on him; even Kyle Delaney, who originally encouraged him when he reported Daisy's fight, was looking wary. He'd kind of gotten a bit of a reputation for being a tattletale.

"Erm, yes Counsellor, everything's fine." He said finally. He thought maybe if he let this go and did not make trouble for Ariya, he might get out of being labelled like he was- at least a little bit.

By the next morning, it seemed like Rachael, Daisy, and Richard were all but forgotten in favor of Quidditch. Adam could see why; the season was to start that Saturday, but it still struck a bit odd that one topic could die off so quickly in favor of another. Contrary to the way his Mum and Dad often talked about their memories of the game when they were in school, most of talk was about the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams rather than Gryffindor or Slytherin. While it was true that either the Lion or the Serpent had won the cup most of the last twenty years or so, Ravenclaw did win it the previous year, mostly due to the work of their Keeper; some bloke called Trevor Wall. Apparently he was named Captain this year and loads of students were certain they would have a repeat win. Others argued that this was going to the year of the Badger; Bobbi Bell, the Captain and star Chaser were bound to lead them all the way to the cup for the first time nobody really knew how long. The first game that season was scheduled to be Hufflepuff verses Gryffindor.

That Saturday, Daisy and Adam were at the game along with everybody else other than Rachael and Richard, or so it seemed. Even loads of parents were there. It was a little odd to see his Dad wearing the black and yellow of his House and Mum wearing scarlet and gold. Even Hermione Granger-Weasley was there, wearing Gryffindor colors, of course, as was Ronald Weasley. What did stick out a bit was the presence of Rachael's Mum. As she sat near Mrs. Granger-Weasley, the tension could be cut with a dagger. They greeted each other coldly.

"That's a lovely broach, Pansy." Hermione said, pointing at a broach Mrs. North was wearing on her cloak. It looked to Adam like some kind of family crest; but as far as he knew it was neither that of the North family or the Parkinson family. In fact, he wasn't sure if the North's even had a family crest; though he supposed they must.

"Why thank you, Granger." Pansy replied icily. "It was gift from a long time family friend back in the summer after fifth year. It's kind of a congratulatory present for being named Prefect."

"Is that so?" Hermione inquired; her interest was so over the top it had to be sarcastic. "Friends with the Lestranges, are we?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah, the Parkinsons and the Lestranges have been friends for generations." Pansy replied, as if she was clearly legitimately proud of the fact.

"Why is that not a surprise?" Ron Weasley chimed in, grimacing. "Like attracts like, I suppose."

"Shut it Weasel-beak!" Pansy retorted sharply. "It's really rich that a Muggle loving family like yours would dare criticize anyone!"

Hermione stood up quickly to look Pansy in the eye. "You take that back!" she warned.

Grinning maliciously, Pansy shoved Hermione hard enough to force her back into her seat. "Make me, Granger." She challenged.

Immediately everyone in the area stood up and turned their attention onto Pansy. Pansy, realizing she was surrounded, and not by allies, simply made a noise like 'hmph' and walked out of the stands, head held high.

Once Mister Wood blew the whistle, reviewed the rules and tossed the Quaffle up, the game had begun. It was brilliant in Adam's mind, especially the work of Roberta 'Bobbi' Bell. Not only was she stellar goal scorer, she was a genius playmaker as well. There was one point when Roxanne Weasley, a Gryffindor Beater, knocked her out of the game for a bit. This was much to the delight of the Gryffindor supporters, especially Ronald and Hermione. Daisy also seemed quite happy with that; that was alright, Bobbi didn't seem to be seriously hurt. At any rate, the Lions made good on catching up and making it look like a close game; especially with Roxanne's Beater work keeping the Badgers offense at bay. Then Bobbi got back in the game, and the tide turned again; though not quite as spectacularly as before. Finally Thomas Venport- Dennis' older brother and Seeker for Hufflepuff- snatched the Snitch to end the game. The Badger supporters exploded with celebration. The crowd carried both Bobbi and Thomas back to the school on their shoulders, chanting Bobbi's name.

Back in the school, Richard was in the front hall; obviously he was either finished with Filch or was on his way to do that. Whatever the case may be, Dennis Venport grabbed him and pulled him along for the celebration; telling him all about how Thomas won the game. Dennis wasn't wrong in the strictest sense, but the way Adam saw it, it was really Bobbi Bell that made the game happen; it was all about her scoring ability and the plays and strategy she employed as Captain.

For most of the rest of the month, he kept reliving that game; probably driving Richard, Daisy and Rachael mad in the process. While he was excited about the prospect of Hufflepuff actually making a run for the Cup, he was also trying to avoid talking about whatever it was that happened to Rachael on Richard's birthday. It seemed like Rachael was avoiding the subject, too. Meanwhile, Daisy was often off taking extra lessons with Counsellor Defaustis; Adam just couldn't bring himself to call a staff member by his first name. To be fair, it certainly seemed to be working for Daisy; she was starting to get pretty good. As far as Adam could tell, it was mostly about a breathing exercise.

In one of the letters he sent home, he mentioned that to his parents. His Dad replied that it was a very old magical remedy- more a mystic remedy to be precise- which theorized that by regulating your breathing, you put yourself in better alignment with the Universe, With this better alignment, it was easier to channel your internal energies and accomplish what you once thought impossible. Apparently this was really quite a thing in Eastern mysticism, and also used in the Americas.

While his dad believed that was mostly rubbish, he did accept it might work to help someone focus themselves to the task at hand. To Adam, it sort of made sense; he was still certain Daisy's problem was synching up with her wand. He wasn't sure if the theory the exercise was based on was true or if his dad's explanation was right, but he didn't think it mattered much one way or the other; it seemed to be working.

In addition to keeping conversation on Quidditch, especially on Bobbi Bell, Adam was avoiding the subject of Halloween by spending time with other people. He had loads of friends in school, so this was an easy enough thing to do; but usually he found he enjoyed the company of Indigo Alders, Dennis Venport, and Kyle Delaney almost as much as Richard, Rachael and Daisy. Actually, he might have liked Indigo even more.

The next Quidditch match, Ravenclaw against Slytherin, was on November 16. It also had a great turnout, but instead of Gryffindor or Hufflepuff colors, the stands were drenched in the Blue and Bronze of Ravenclaw and the Green and Silver of Slytherin. Adam had no trouble staying out of trouble; he liked things to be orderly and loathed the idea of making any waves in the first place. Richard, Rachael, and Daisy also managed to stay out of detention, too. A few people, especially Wilkes, York, Hodges and to a slightly lesser degree Solberg tried egging Daisy on to throw another punch; for her part Daisy did well to control her temper. Philip Knox mentioned to Adam once that Daisy had been running a lot harder lately. Perhaps she was taking her anger out by running it off.

The four sat together, and Philip, Indigo, Ariya Casewell, and a boy called Nathan Carter sat near them. For about a week before that, Nathan had been trying to earn Rachael's favor; Rachael was basically ignoring him. The Friday before the game, Adam asked Rachael why in the First Year common room.

"Withhold the love, gain the power." Rachael replied in a cool tone that Adam didn't like much. Before he could ask what that was supposed to mean, Rachael got up and went to the girl's dorm.

The match on the sixteenth was a rarity; Trevor Wall, the Keeper and Captain of the Ravenclaw team led the Eagles to a shutout victory. He certainly lived up to his name; despite the rabid volley of shots taken at him by the aggressive Slytherin Chasers, nothing got past him. It was uncanny. The Slytherin Keeper was very good, too; Ravenclaw Chasers only got one goal. Ultimately the match was decided by the Seekers. For some reason both Daisy and Richard got a bit of a chuckle out of their names; Holmes and Watson.

In any case, Holmes ended up catching the Snitch due to an error from a Slytherin Beater (Ariya's older brother), when he accidentally hit his own Seeker with a Bludger while they were both racing for the Snitch. It was clear to Adam that Casewell meant to hit Holmes but got Watson by mistake. The incident brought out a rare and unexpected moment of solidarity between Rachael and her mother as they both began cussing out the Beater's competence and intelligence.

The rest of the month went by without any real incident. Rachael got to act a little odd; she seemed much more irritable, and though she was always often sarcastic her humor was coming off as a lot more hostile. Other than that, things went great; Daisy was showing remarkable progress and getting better with her studies with Counsellor DeFaustis, and even Richard seemed to all but forget about Halloween. Instead, most of their conversation was about whom would win in a matchup between Trevor the Keeper and Bobbi the Chaser. Adam felt certain that now everything was going to go just as it should.


	8. Chapter 8 - Christmas

1

December went as well as November for Daisy. With Counselor DeFaustis' help, she really felt like she caught up in classes, and if one were to ask Adam, it certainly appeared as if her wand was more or less trained now. At any rate, it was a lot less stubborn. As an added bonus, the wand made it nearly impossible to leave behind; one time as she was about to leave for her morning run, it literally leaped off the nightstand where she left it and into her hand. It was apparent that what the legends say about Pegasus cores was true.

The only downside she could think of was how badly she felt for poor Richard when the time came for Christmas vacation. Because he was actually from Canada and had no family here in England, he was stuck in the castle while almost everybody else got to go home. Rachael lived in Canada, too, but her mother's family, the Parkinson's, lived in the UK. According to Rachael, the family was staying with them for the holiday. Adam's mum and dad had a house in London not far from the Brown's, and of course Daisy lived in Surrey with her own parents.

Richard said that there was supposed to be a banquet at Hogwarts for staff and students, who were not able to go home, and that he was looking forward to that, but it still struck her as sad; though she had decided it was best not to talk about it too much. Of course, Tim Solberg never missed a chance to bring it up; saying things like; "I can't imagine how awful it would be to not be able to go home" at every meal. Or he would say "Hogwarts is great, but it would be awful not to get away for the holiday" on the way to classes. To his credit, Richard handled it remarkably well. Daisy was sure she would have lost her temper again. She was lucky it wasn't her this time.

Her own Christmas was brilliant. Up until that year, family dinner was always at the Dursley house; her aunt and uncle and cousins from her Mum's side would come over. The Browns were always polite enough, but it always seemed to Daisy they were being really cautious and often showed a sort of disappointment in her Mum. They would also usually be watching Daisy very closely; and now she understood why. It was because her Mum, Belladonna, was what the wizarding world called a squib; a Muggle child born into a wizard family. They were probably watching her, Daisy, to see if the magic would be tapped into again, thus only skipping one generation. Sometimes the Potters would come by, but they would rarely stay very long; just a cup of tea and gift exchange.

This year was different. This year, the Browns, that would be her Mum's side of the family, insisted that dinner be held in their home. When they learned that her Dad and Harry Potter were related, they all but begged for an invite to be extended to the Potters as well. Daisy supposed the thought of having a bona fide hero in their house was far too exciting to pass up, especially one married to the step-sister of the all but incumbent next Minister of Magic.

It was on the drive to the Brown house that these thoughts came to her; much to her surprise. It seemed that Counselor's breathing exercises did more than just focus her magic ability; they seemed to be clearing up her thinking as well. Ever since she started on that, she found she could reason things out a lot better; not as well as Richard seemed to do, certainly much better than before.

On entering the Brown house, Daisy, Mum, and even dad were given the warmest greeting they had ever received from the Browns; especially Daisy.

"Well, there she is!" Auntie Pearl said, wrapping her up in a giant hug. "And how is our new witch in training?"

"I'm doing great." Daisy replied, smiling awkwardly. "I started off a bit rough, but I'm all caught up now."

"That's wonderful news!" Aunt Pearl said. She took Daisy by the hand and dragged her into the front room, which was dominated by a portrait of a pretty young woman- a few years older than Daisy was. The portrait moved her head so her eyes could follow Daisy as she sat down on the overstuffed couch. The portrait, which looked a little like Aunt Pearl, but not exactly, stared at Daisy intently.

"So this is supposed to be the big savior of the name of Brown in the wizarding world?" she challenged, and then snorted and looked away, feigning indifference.

"Don't mind Lavender." Uncle Donald spoke up. "She's been moody for the last twenty years or so. I suppose being killed in the battle of Hogwarts has dampened her spirits a bit."

Through dinner and much of the night was spent talking to and about Daisy and her time in school; what was her best class? Well, I am the best flier in this year. What's this I hear about you getting in a spot of trouble? I was being bullied and lashed out, and I know all too well that was wrong. You said you started off with a bit of difficulty, what does that mean? Well, I was having trouble getting spells right, but then I took some remedial studies and that's helped a lot.

"Adam MacMillan, he's one of my friends, thought it was my wand being stubborn." Daisy added. "He's a bit of a wand expert at school."

"Is that so?" Uncle Donald asked. "Are we talking about the son of Ernie and Romilda the healers?"

"Yes, Uncle," Daisy answered.

So went the most of conversation. For a lot of the night, dad was pretty quiet; like he had no idea what was being talked about. He didn't seem particularly uncomfortable; in fact he looked pleased that his daughter was being held in such high regard.

Then they got to the gift exchange. But first, there was a knock on the door, and Uncle Harry popped his head into the front room.

Aunt Pearl and Uncle Donald were elated at Uncle Harry's appearance; they rushed him in and sat him in an easy chair with a footstool right by the gently crackling fire. For a moment the conversation turned into an all about Harry talk; in a way Daisy was relieved. It was kind of nice to have all the attention shifted away from her for awhile. One element of special note was the relationship between Dad and Uncle Harry as children. It seemed that Pearl and Donald assumed it must have been amazingly exciting to have a wizard in the family. Her dad stuttered and stammered awkwardly looking for a way to express himself.

"Actually, in all fairness, childhood was hard for the both of us." Harry interjected. "You know how my parents were murdered, right? Well, then I was sent to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, and Dudley, of course. They didn't really understand who or what I was, and it was very frightening for them."

"Erm, yeah, that's it." Dad agreed, shooting a look that said thanks to Uncle Harry. "We didn't really know what we were doing. Lots of mistakes were made, and I want to say sorry about that, Harry."

Uncle Harry got up and stepped over to where dad was sitting. He stuck out his hand to shake.

"It's alright, Big D." He said. "It's all in the past, and no hard feelings, right?"

Dad, smiling a smile broader than any Daisy had ever seen her dad smile, stood up and took Uncle Harry's hand. They shook and finally dad pulled Harry into a hug, thanking him profusely and wishing him a Happy Christmas. It was perhaps the best moment of the night, even if Daisy didn't quite understand why.

They broke contact, and Harry then suggested they get to the gifts.

From mum and dad she got a jogging suit, a jumper, and matching runners. To most that might seem to be lousy gift, but to Daisy it was perfect; the set she came to school with were all worn out. Pearl and Donald got her a wand maintenance set. Under the Brown's tree there were also gifts from Rachael, Richard, and Adam. Aunt Pearl said owls delivered them an hour before she had arrived with her parents. Rachael sent a basic Weasley Skiving set, along with note saying it might come in handy. Richard sent a book about the history of Quidditch, and Adam sent a bunch of refills for her potions kit, inside a new cauldron. Just then, another pair of owls swooped in, and dropped off gifts from Philip Knox and Hagrid. From Philip, A gigantic case of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, and from Hagrid a few home-made Cauldron cakes.

"You might want to be careful with those," Uncle Harry joked, not unkindly, pointing at the cakes Hagrid sent.

"Hold on," dad said, "what's this Quiddage thing? Is it some kind of sport?"

"It's called Quidditch, dear," mum corrected him gently. "And yes it is a sport."

Dad nodded; apparently pleased he grasped something that was going on around him. Daisy loved her dad all the more for his efforts in what must still be a very strange world for him.

"Can I see that book?" he asked Daisy. Daisy handed him the book and dad began thumbing through it, clearly having a little difficulty; he could read just fine, but often the format of wizard books was quite different than muggle books. He did, however, seem to enjoy the moving pictures very much.

And then Uncle Harry handed her a parchment. Daisy unfolded the parchment that looked ancient and well worn to find it was blank.

"Can I have a moment alone with you, Daisy?" He asked. Even as Daisy looked around to see if that was alright, Dad was giving an approving nod and both Pearl and Donald were happily assented; they even offered Donald's study.

Harry led Daisy into the study, and asked for the parchment back. Dubious, Daisy handed it back.

"I need to show you how this works." He started to explain. "Headmistress McGonagall mentioned that you and your friends are already showing signs of being much like my friends and I was. Albus, too, but I've already sorted that matter out.

He took out his wand, pointed it at the parchment, and said: "I solemnly swear that I up to no good."

Daisy could scarcely believe what she was seeing. The parchment, once blank, quickly became filled. It all started with a script saying "MSSRS MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT AND PRONGS PROUDLY PRESENT THE MARAUDERS MAP" and then an exact map of Hogwarts began to be drawn out on the parchment.

"My dad and his friends, one of them my godfather and another perhaps the best teacher I ever had, made this when they were students. It never ceases to amaze me how well it still works after all this time." He said.

"Hold on," Daisy countered, "my friend Richard said that most of Hogwarts was reduced to rubble during the battle, the one where Voldemort was finally defeated once and for all."

"You used his name. I can't begin to tell you how encouraging that is." Uncle Harry said lovingly. "Your friend is right; it was, yet somehow this map redrew itself with all the updates. I have no idea how. Look." He tapped gently at the spot where the First Year Tower showed on the map. "That's brand new; it wasn't even thought of when Dad, Sirius, Remus, and...Peter where attending. Well, maybe Dumbledore thought of it."

"This is amazing!" Daisy exclaimed, struggling to keep her voice to a whisper. This thing shows everything; I would never have guessed there were so many secret passages. I bet Rachael and Richard will love this!"

"You haven't seen anything yet." Harry said. "Just watch," he added.

Daisy looked closely, and then it dawned on her that the map, or more accurately there were parts on it, were moving! Little black dots, some scattered throughout the halls, but most of them in the banquet hall, moved about; and even more peculiar the dots were all labelled with names she mostly knew! There was a Richard Gavin in the banquet hall, close by Counselor Defaustis, Hagrid, the Headmistress, and the other professors; there was also another name she didn't know- Cody Woolman- right beside Defaustis.

"Do you mean to tell me that this map shows you who is where in the school?" She asked. Harry confirmed that was the case. When Daisy commented it was sort of like GPS, Uncle Harry looked confused until Daisy explained it was a computer thing, and then it clicked. He said that he has fallen behind on technology.

"Now this part is important." He said finally. "When you are done using the map, be sure to say 'Mischief Managed'" he tapped the map with his wand, and the map vanished again. "Or anyone who happens to come by it can see it." He then folded it neatly and gave it back to Daisy, who took it and pocketed it. She gave Uncle Harry a hug, thanking him. Then she asked why he was giving her this, not that she didn't appreciate it.

"Well, if you're going to go sneaking around the school after hours, I figured you should at least have an edge, right?"

Daisy smiled as they returned to the party, her head swimming with the possibilities that lay ahead for her and her friends. She didn't even give a thought to what he meant when he said he sorted the matter of Albus and Scorpius sneaking around.

2

There's no point in lying. Spending Christmas away from home wasn't easy. I miss my mom. I tried to talk Professor McGonagall into letting her come to Hogwarts just for the day, but she said no. Apparently there's some kind of enchantment on the castle prevents Muggles- other than Squibs- from even seeing it properly. All they see is a set of ruins, and then they will suddenly remember they have some important engagement to see to before they can explore the ruins.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Gavin, but that is the way it has to be." She said gently but sternly.

All the same, if I have to be away somewhere, Hogwarts is the place to be. Next I asked if I could at least have some sort of supervised leave to go shopping for gifts; that I might find something to send her. To that she agreed; she arranged for Hagrid to escort me to Hogsmeade, where she was sure I would find all that I would require.

She was right; I found everything there. It's an amazing little town, Hogsmeade; near as I can tell, its entire population is magical. For mom I found this really nice set of self-washing flatware and matching silverware. I checked with Hagrid if that would be okay, what with the statute of secrecy and all that crap. I explained that one her biggest wishes in the world is to have a dish-washing machine, so a set of dishes and cutlery that wash themselves would be the next best thing.

"Well, I don't see much harm in tha'" Hagrid said. "It's not like she's gonna be washin' dishes while entertainin' guests, I reckon. So long as no Muggle sees 'em, mind yeh," he added as a caveat, waving a massive finger. "Ye'll have t' warn her abou' tha'."

I promised I would, bought the dishes and cutlery, and went about looking for stuff for others. There was a bookstore where I found a comprehensive history of Quidditch. I got two of those; one for Adam and one for Daisy. Then I saw an Encyclopedia of Wand lore, so I got that for Adam instead, and kept the second Quidditch book for myself. Rachael was a little harder to find something for, but I finally decided on a quick quotes quill. She seems to always be writing something; maybe the quill will save her from writer's cramp.

For the most part, the holiday was kind of quiet at Hogwarts; not much of a surprise there. I actually had the first year tower pretty much to myself, which wasn't as lonely as it sounds. There were a couple of older students who also stayed put; nobody I really knew, but I saw them around. Most of my time was spent in the library, which I guess is kind of lame, but I did get a chance to look up lots of cool stuff. One thing I found was that Santa Claus is in fact Nicholas Christopher Kringle, a wizard of Hufflepuff House.

Rene started a big snowball fight one day; that got quite interesting with magic. Professor Slughorn tried to throw a cheer party, which I guess worked out alright but I'm pretty sure he meant for it to be more festive than it was really quite sedate, actually. The most active people at that party were Rene and his friend Cody. Cody Woolman was an athletic looking guy the same age as Rene; he has shoulder length reddish hair, and a bit of stubble which makes him look kind of rugged. He wears a lot of furs that look like he might have made them himself, and has a hat like Crocodile Dundee's which he removed when indoors. He also seemed to be on very good terms with Hagrid; and apparently excelled at Hogwarts, especially in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. Apparently after graduating he went to the Americas to study what some of the professors called 'New World Magic'. This is a term that both Rene and Cody cringe at when they hear it; they believe the practice over there (which is home to me) is just as old as here- just a different approach.

But I digress. On Christmas Day I woke up to find a pile of presents at the foot of my four poster with my name on them. Mom got me a brand new scale, which was great since mine was all wonky; I could get it to work, but I was constantly fiddling with it. Hagrid made some cauldron cakes. Ironically, Rachael got me the some kind of quill that I got her- except the feather was blue and the feather on hers is green. Adam got me the latest edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (with annotations from Luna Lovegood). There was also a gift from Rene and Cody. First there was a card with a hand written message that read in his messy yet somehow elegant writing:

Richard:  
On your first night at Hogwarts you were asking about the Corax, and I gave you a sort of thumbnail sketch what they are all about. I imagine you might have asked Hagrid about them too, but there's a lot more to know then even he would know. We thought this might answer any questions you might have about them. Enjoy, and have a Happy Christmas,  
Rene and Cody.

The card also had a picture of the two of them with arms over each other's shoulders. Of course the image moved; I was used to that, it's not much different from GIFs except they're not digital. What I didn't expect was that in the image they turned, faced each other and kissed. It was actually kind of sweet; I hope they're happy together.

The gift itself was another book: "The Corax, A collaboration of all you need to know and maybe a little more." They also included a pair of chocolate frogs.  
One was of Professor Neville Longbottom; Current Professor of Herbology and Head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts School Witchcraft and Wizardry, founding member of Dumbledore's Army, most notably famous for his role in the defeat of The Dark One and the destruction of the Horcrux Nagini. Professor Longbottom is also well known for his support of Hermione Granger's advocacy for the fair treatment of the House Elves.  
The other was of Seamus Finnegan; Current Minister for Magic in Canada, alumni member of Dumbledore's Army, famous for his role in Battle of Hogwarts which led to the defeat of the Dark One, and regarded as The Most Diverse Minister in Wizarding History. Minister Finnegan is particularly famous for maintaining, along with his husband Dean Thomas, a culture of diversity in the wizarding community in Canada and in his administration.

All in all, I'd say it was pretty good haul.

3

Pansy North Ne Parkinson stole momentarily into back room of her old family home's deepest cellar. This was where her parents kept a cauldron for potions that needed to be kept from prying eyes. She checked the potion she had started working on once she, her husband and two children arrived for the holidays. By the look and smell of it, it was almost time to add the shredded Boomslang skin. She nodded, satisfied. With a small and twisted grin of triumph across her mouth, Pansy was quite certain that the plan was going to go perfectly; Rigel, her husband and star reporter at the Daily Prophet, had said that Papa Zebub was pleased with their progress so far.

"Pansy, dear!" her mum called from upstairs. "Are you almost done down there? We're about to decorate the tree!" Pansy cringed; for some reason almost everything irritated her lately. She absently fingered the broach that Bellatrix Lestrange had given her all those years back- the summer between fifth and sixth year at school.

"Yeah, Mum!" she called back up. "I'll be up in a minute!"

She headed up the stairs. Despite the fact her mum's voice was like rusty nails on a blackboard, her overall mood was good. Luckily most just thought it was Christmas spirit, and she was happy to let them think that. Really it was much more than that; everything was falling into place just as Rigel had predicted it would. At first she was a little concerned about Rachael's behaviour, but Rigel assured her that even that was exactly as it should be.

"It's best she doesn't know, my love." He had explained "at least not yet. What matters is that her little adventure into the forest had the exact result we wanted."

She arrived upstairs and into the front room where her family was indeed beginning to decorate the tree. For some bizarre reason that Pansy never understood, her Dad always insisted on doing it without magic; another one of those irritating things, but then that had always irritated her. Regardless, Pansy put on her best smile and joined the others for the family tradition. As she did, she noticed Rachael eyed the broach, and would have sworn to any inquisition that there was a brief flash of mad fury in her eye.

 _From the Diary of Rachael Truth North_  
 _Dec 23_

So I was originally kind of counting on spending Christmas at school, but Mom and Dad sent an owl right before holidays saying the family would be at Granny and Gramp's. They meant the old Parkinson house, of course. I guess it's not so bad here, really. The place is huge; weird, but almost like a palace.

Most of the time, I've been exploring. I keep finding rooms that weren't there before, or little chambers hidden from sight. Granny Parkinson caught me in one of those little secret chambers today; imagine my surprise when she didn't get mad but actually seem pleased. I can't figure out why.

The whole time we've been here, dad had been super polite. He always is, but I mean even more than usual; he's been acting very submissive, to be honest. It's more like he's a pet than a husband to mom lately. At first it was kind of disgusting, but then, just today, I caught...I don't know... a vibe from him. I looked at him, we made eye contact, and I swear I saw something that told me he was up to something. For a second I even saw, I mean I literally _saw_ him talking to a muscular old man wearing a tank top and a top hat, his face painted like a snake. They were talking in that strange hissing language he sometimes uses by a campfire. I only barely had time to wish I could understand what they were saying when it was like dad saw me and actually pushed me with his mind. But it wasn't me he was pushing; it was the Black Queen, or at least that's what he told the old man.

Later on, he took me aside and told me he was impressed at how I was already grasping the basics of legilimency. He also explained that the old man was Papa Zebub, and old friend and mentor of his from both before and after his time at Hogwarts, where he met my mother. I asked him about the language, and he smiled. He said it was possible that I might learn it; it's an inherited thing and not exactly taught. Either you know it or you don't, he said. I started to ask him who the Black Queen was, and he suggested I not worry myself about that. I should enjoy the holiday and then focus on my studies.

 _Dec 24- Christmas Eve_

I had a wowser of a dream last night. In it, I was in the cellar with my Mom, she was making a potion. She turned and saw me, and fell on her face as if in worship. Then she looked all nervous, and started fiddling with that broach of hers- the one she got from the Black family. For some reason, a part of me was extremely pleased she still had it and had taken such good care of it, yet enraged she was wearing it. Also, I was quite pleased she chose her pet over that weakling Draco Malfoy (those were the words in my head, anyway). Then a massive snake slithered up to her from between my legs, coiled around the cauldron and then up and over her shoulders.

"This is Thurissaz." She said. He will get you into the Chamber, just as you requested in your letters, M'Lady. You will be able to make all things ready, just as you wanted."

Then I woke. This dream reminded me of a recurring dream I almost forgot about; or maybe thought nothing of. That one was about me writing letters furiously, though I can't remember what I was writing about; only that I was in a state of nearly immeasurable rage.

Later on today, Isis, that's Adam's owl, showed up with a package from Adam. She, Isis, was soon flanked by an owl from the owlery at school which had two packages; one form one from Richard and another from Daisy. Well, Daisy's was an envelope in his beak, but still. I opened the envelope from Daisy first thing and incinerated the envelope right after; Mom and Dad would probably have a fit if they knew I accepted a gift from a Muggle-born, even if it was a gift as gorgeous as it was. Daisy sent me a beautiful necklace that was made to look like a silver serpent. On placing it around my neck it adjusted itself to fit perfectly and locked in place by biting its tail. Right away I decided to say it was from a secret admirer; I'm sure the whole family will be thrilled to hear that. Surely it would have to be someone well off, from a Slytherin background, and be one of tremendous taste.

Richard got me a Quick-Quotes Quill; much like the one I got him but green instead of blue. That's kind of funny how we thought of the same thing for each other. He's always studying or revising or researching something, so I figured he probably gets writer's cramp. I know he's got that talent for transfiguration unlike anyone I've ever seen and can already make quills out of twigs, but Quick-Quotes should make life a lot easier; it will for me and my journal. I'm trying it out now, in fact; it's really good. It even writes very close to my actual style.

For Adam I took a guess that he was a fan of Scotland's world Quidditch team and got him a full set of their trading cards autographed. He sent me, through Isis, a wand maintenance kit. That will be very handy, indeed.

 _Dec 25- Christmas Day_

You know what? I don't really have a lot to say about today. I mean Aunt made a brilliant dinner; or rather her elf did. I'm gonna keep quiet after this one comment because it is family, but I hate the way she treats the poor elf. I'm sure the Ministry would arrest them if they knew. I won't say anything to the Ministry, but only because it's family.

Gran and Gramps gifted me a small vial of Felix Felicis; otherwise known as Liquid Luck. They warned me to use it wisely. Then Gramps joked about considering setting me up with a love potion, but apparently I didn't need that anyway. Mom and Dad gave me a dagger. The blade is silver, the handle carved oak, similar to but not quite the same as the old Dark Mark of the Death Eaters. It's different, but that's kind of what it makes me think of. Dad explained it was a combination of Loas from the West; specifically Damballah, their serpent-king, Ghede their keeper of the dead, and Legba their watcher over the crossroads. Mom said it was to be used for ritual or potion making purposes only. I hefted it and found it was perfectly balanced, and somewhere deep inside of me I felt tremendous pleasure in it; it was perfect.

4

In a single word, Adam's Christmas was brilliant. With the amount of overtime his Mum and Dad were making at St. Mungo's, what with the Harker attacks and another small outbreak of Frostlung, it was starting to look a little dicey if there would be any time. But by the time Holidays came, they both got time off – well deserved, his dad maintained – and there was plenty of money for gifts. Adam managed to get something for just about everyone, he even persuaded his Mum to purchase a bottle of Brandy for Hagrid, the gamekeeper and professor of Care for Magical Creatures. Also, on Christmas Day, the owls just kept on coming with deliveries from all his friends at school. What he actually got was less important to him than the fact that so many people seemed to have thought of him at all. Of course he sent gifts, too; but he didn't expect anything in return. Once he was done opening his gifts, he set on straight away to send thank you cards to everyone. The highlight of the day for Adam, though, was Punky, their house elf.

Normally at Christmastime, his parents allow Punky to take a vacation as well. Of course, Punky is a free elf, so is able to come or go at will and is under no obligation to stay at all, but the gesture is what counts. This year, Punky decided to stay put through the holiday, though took time off from the work. The way Punky lit up upon actually receiving gifts had to be the best part of the entire holiday; two pair of socks (mismatched, of course) from his sister, a pair of oversized wingtip shoes from his mum, and a custom fitted pants suit from his dad. Punky was delighted. Then Adam presented his gift; a jar of rainbow hair dye that Punky had fawned over while they were shopping at Diagon Alley. Punky exploded with joy and set to apply the dye to the Mohawk that he sported.

It was on the twenty seventh of December that things went sideways. The family was about to start breakfast when the floo in the nook lit up and the head of 's chief administrator popped into their presence, an uncharacteristic look of shocked panic on his face.

"Ah, good morning, Chief" his dad said. "I trust your Christmas was happy?"

"Happy enough, Macmillan, thank you for asking." The Administrator replied. "Listen up; I hate to cut your time off short, the both of you, but we have a real emergency here."

His Mum, who was making French toast, stopped dead. "What's happened?" she asked, calling from the kitchen. Adam was curious himself. He didn't know the Administrator by name, but he'd seen him many times making similar calls in the floo network; he always seemed so calm. If he was shocked and in what looked to Adam like a state of mild panic at the very least, this had to e very serious.

"There was another attack. At least a dozen patients have come in all at once, all of them critical." The Administrator said.

"His dad shot up from the table so quickly his belly nearly knocked it right over. "What? When? Where did this happen?" He sputtered.

"Just now," the Administrator answered, "at the Leaky Cauldron. We can't say for certain, but early reports suggest it might have been the Harkers."

"How is that even possible?" Dad demanded. "How could they have found the place?"

"That's a job for the investigators to determine, Ernie." Mum cut in gently. She stepped away from the oven and reached for her coat, grabbing Dad's while she was at it. "Ours is to help the injured." She turned to Adam. "Breakfast is almost ready, son. Do you remember how to finish it off?"

Adam nodded yes. He had spent several hours in the kitchen watching either her or Punky preparing meals. There had been incidents sort of like this before, and even though it was usually Punky that took over, Adam knew what to do. He could finish off breakfast and serve it up.

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;"Adam's parents shot out of the nook and into the front room where the main floo was, his dad shouting to mind his sister and to only call on Punky if he was really stuck. Then Adam heard them, one after another, shout "St. Mungo's" and then they were gone.

The rest of the day was quiet enough; his sister was pretty easy to take care of. Adam guessed it was because she was just happy that he was back in the house for a little while. Later that day, the Daily Prophet came, the front page blaring a headline from Rachael's dad:

LEAKY CAULDRON ATTACKED!  
Harker Institution NOT involved.  
By Rigel T. North

The picture under the headline was a wide angle of the inside of the Leaky Cauldron, where paramedic wizards could be seen attending to a number injured. Though the images of the people were quite small and difficult to make out, one was actually large enough to be unmistakable; it was Hagrid; where the other people in the shot were tiny, Hagrid looked almost the right size for a normal person in a photograph. The script underneath the image identified Ruebeus Hagrid, gamekeeper and professor at Hogwarts, as those among the most grievously injured.

The article read:  
As no doubt many of you were tucking in for breakfast this morning at approximately 7:00 this morning, no less than a dozen patrons at the Leaky Cauldron, a popular lodge for witches and wizards in London, were doing the same. Much to their surprise and shock, along with the outrage of the staff and management of the Cauldron, that was when an unthinkable attack took place which not only interrupted their morning meal, but caused grievous injury and extensive property damage.  
At least a dozen witches and wizards were sent to St Mungo's; amongst them was the much beloved Ruebeus Hagrid, the half-giant gamekeeper and professor of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Mundungus Fletcher, a wizard of undefined profession.  
Though the initial theory was that this attack had something to do with the Harker Institute of Technology (HIT) and their confirmed attacks on individuals in our community which included one known fatality recently, that theory has been ruled out by Tom, the owner of the Cauldron.

"There's no way those people were Muggles with technological weapons," he said, "they had to be wizards, though they were using magic unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was either new magic or very old magic, I /"In a way, I'm rather glad it wasn't those Harker people." "He added. "If the Muggles were able to find and penetrate this place that would mean a great deal of trouble is coming our way; especially if they meant us harm."

Tom had suffered only minor injuries.

When asked if he could identify any of the attackers, Tom indicated they were wearing wooden masks that resembled totem pole figures; which might have represented a number of different animals. He did specify that among the five of them, one looked reptilian, perhaps a serpent, and then there were two others; one was unmistakably a skull and the other made him think of the sun.

"I'm pretty certain the skull mask was their leader, whoever they were." Tom said. "They just came in, ransacked the place, and then scarpered off." No clear motive has yet been determined for this attack, which of course makes it all the more disturbing as it appears for all intents and purposes to be completely random.

When asked for an estimate on the damages, Tom looked around at the shambles of the Cauldron and shrugged, saying it had to be in the hundreds of galleons.  
As for the condition of the injured, St. Mungo's has closed off the ward they are on and refuses to comment. This reporter, however, has heard from anonymous inside sources, that Fletcher is conscious and speaking, albeit incoherently, and that Hagrid is in some kind of catatonic state; he's alive, but completely unresponsive."

Adam folded the paper back up, not wanting to read anymore. He felt a bit ill. Tom was right, he supposed, if hostile Muggles like the Harkers could see, identify and penetrate the Leaky Cauldron, it would be a good bet they could do that with any Wizarding place; maybe even Hogwart's. So if there was any good news, it would be that it wasn't them. What bothered him was what happened to Hagrid; as he was a half-giant, Hagrid had an unbelievable resistance to magical attacks. In fact, the way Adam had been told, most spells simply bounced off Hagrid with about as much effect as a ball of crumpled up paper. What kind of magic could render someone like him catatonic? Whoever these people were, they had to be extremely powerful.

All hopped up on way too much sweet stuff, Erin was a bit of a hassle to get to bed; this was not something that Adam was accustomed to dealing with anyway, so he called upon Punky to take care of it. He apologized for interrupting the Elf's time off, but with Mum and Dad dealing with the emergency at the Hospital...

"Think nothing of it, young sir," Punky said. "Punky knows all too well the rigors and importance of your parent's work. Usually one of them is home by now, it's only when things at the hospital are extremely busy does Punky put young Erin to bed."

Adam blinked. "Right; so you can do it, then?" He asked.

"Oh, yes, sir!" Punky said. "Punky knows just what to do." Then Punky entered Erin's room, already sporting a rainbow colored Mohawk; he had obviously used the hair coloring that Adam got him for Christmas.

It wasn't too long after Erin was finally down for the night when Mum apparated back into the front room. Adam was there, reading a book on wand lore. He looked up when he heard the small pop of his mother appearing into the room, seemingly out of thin air. She looked absolutely exhausted. Adam jumped to his feet and rushed in towards her.

"Alright, Mum?" he asked, helping her to one of the easy chairs.

"Yes, son, I'm fine." Mum said, thanking him as she sat down with a plop. Adam thought to ask where dad was, but presumed that was a silly question; he was clearly still at the hospital. If Adam knew his dad, it was because a medical mystery came up and he, dad, wanted to spend time trying to solve it.

"Mum, is Hagrid going to be alright?" He asked instead.

"That's one of the questions, isn't it?" Mum replied. "Before we can do much to treat him, we have to work out what exactly is wrong with him, don't we?" She stopped, realizing she was sounding very cross with her son.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't mean to be cross with you. We don't honestly know what to do with Hagrid, and it's bothering both your dad and I very much; he was well loved by the students when we were your age, too, you know. That's where your dad is."

"Trying to work out what happened to Hagrid?" Adam said

"Yes, that's right." Mum confirmed. "He's taken a personal interest in that case. He did find some kind of powder in his beard; at first we ignored it, thinking it was likely just icing sugar from some powered cake or another. Now your dad isn't so sure."

"Does anyone have any idea who's behind the attack?" Adam asked.

Mum shrugged and shook her head. "Dunno," she said. "If the Aurors have any clue they're not telling anyone. I reckon that's so whoever it is won't know how close they are to being caught."

That sounded a little for-fetched to Adam, but he nodded like it made sense. He guessed that the Aurors were as clueless as everyone else.

"So far the only thing I know of is what Fletcher keeps raving about," Mum added. "He keeps rambling how the attackers had stars in their hands. No, not scars, he said very clearly stars. Nobody knows what that is supposed to mean."

Adam didn't know, either. With his Mum home and looking like she was ready to sleep for about a week, Adam made for bed himself, though he lay awake, alternating between reading his book on wand lore and staring blankly at the ceiling for most of the night. He heard his dad come eventually, but when he made straight for his office instead of bed, Adam decided it was best to let Dad think everyone else was fast asleep.


End file.
